


Wagers

by torres



Category: Football RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-05
Updated: 2013-06-18
Packaged: 2017-12-14 01:02:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/830896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torres/pseuds/torres
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story inspired by the movie prompt, "Cruel Intentions." </p><p>Daniel makes a bet that he can take the virginity of Fernando. Stevie, his sworn enemy, will stop at nothing to make sure he loses.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hazing

It started out as fairly innocuous schoolyard bullying. Daniel Agger was a freshman and had just entered the football varsity team. Steven Gerrard was the captain and had to lead the hazing. Like all new squad members, Daniel had to clean up after the seniors - brush their boots, lay out their kits, pick up their dirty underwear from wet shower room floors.

But Daniel was a promising centreback too, and that made matters all the more difficult. See, the other centreback was Jamie Carragher. Vice-captain and self-proclaimed “heart” of the team - and when he proclaimed himself, he really did know how to mouth it off.

The coach was never going to drop Sami Hyypia. He was older and more reliable than Jamie at the back, and he worked swimmingly well with Daniel. Which meant Carra was getting benched. First, just one cup game, no big deal. Then the league game after that - but it was against lowly opposition, so it was understandable. But then, Rafa Benitez was discussing more and more tactics with Daniel during training, telling him they needed defenders like him who could keep the ball and hold a high line - two things Carra could never do.

Stevie, of course, like all adolescent boys, had the values and the blind logic of a caveman. Therefore, all of his best friend's enemies were his enemies as well.

So, Stevie and Carra decided to make Daniel's life a living hell.

Daniel's always been a tough kid - he was naturally a very strong, steady person. He wasn't emotional, he wasn't easily affected. But the daily wear and tear of little things - his clothes getting flushed in the toilet or his boots getting ruined (again) because somebody had poured toothpaste (it was bleach this week) in them - it got to him. Like water steadily running through cracks on stone, it splits you apart eventually.

One day, Daniel was pissed more than usual. Somebody had broken into his locker, dumped all his things on the floor and filled the space with wads of wet tissue. Mature. He screamed in frustration, slammed his locker door, got on the field, and within the first ten minutes of their seven-a-side scrimmage, he's slid into Stevie with a crunching tackle. Probably a second too late, but nobody saw that. And the bastard deserved it anyway.

Daniel stood up, keeping his face blank and innocent, but by god was he cackling with laughter inside as he watched Stevie writhing on the floor clutching his ankle. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, wanted to yell down, “This is training, bitch. You're not going to get a penalty because you're rolling around like a little faggot.”

But soon, the coaches swarmed around their beloved captain. Daniel blinked up at Rafa innocently, “I got the ball. But maybe the contact was awkward?”

Rafa bought the act and nodded, “Yeah, I didn't think it was a foul either.”

Sammy Lee, the assistant, clapped Daniel's back. “Don't worry about it, kid. These accidents happen.”

Carra stalked up to them and broke through the clump of people. “He did that on purpose! He went in with both feet, studs up!”

Daniel knew he already had the moral ascendancy on his side - he's never had a bad foul before, unlike Carra who's been carded more times than he could count. Plus, he was the young, naive freshman. He didn't say anything and tried to look reluctant.

Sammy Lee sighed and put a reassuring arm around his shoulders. Rafa scolded Carra and told him he should be supportive of the kids who are coming through the ranks. Carra groaned loudly in rage and kicked the cooler of Lucozade until it spilled the ice all over the track.

Meanwhile, the physios hovered all around Stevie, checking his state.

“It's not broken or anything, so calm down,” the doctor said, tentatively holding Stevie's foot and examining it. “It will just be sore for a while.”

The other physio nodded, handing Stevie a bottle of water, “You'll have to sit out around two to three games to rest it.”

“I'm sorry, Coach,” Dan said with a heavy sigh. “I didn't mean it.”

“No, you did a good job, Agger.” Rafa told him, clapping his back.

After training, Rafa announced the starting line-up for the weekend league game. Stevie was out with an injury, Daniel started and Carra was demoted to right-back. Rafa hailed Daniel's ability to close down players, regardless if they were big names; he told all the other young defenders that they had to be as brave as him.

However, if Stevie and Carra weren't going to play, they weren't going to let Daniel get anywhere near the team either.

The next week, Stevie asked Rafa if they could reschedule their training to an earlier day so they could have more time to practise before the game. Rafa had no problem with it and even praised Stevie for his initiative and involvement in the team, despite being injured.

Stevie and Carra didn't tell Dan the training had been moved.

Wednesday afternoon, Daniel arrived in an empty training ground. The kit man saw him there and asked him if he forgot that training was supposed to be the day before. Wednesday was the new day-off now. And yes, he was absent and missed the tactical discussion, so there was no way he was going to be in the starting eleven now.

Daniel's hands were rolled into fists as he left the school gym. His arms and legs were shaking in anger. He snarled at the students who passed him by and didn't get out of his way in time. Finally, he reached his locker. It was untouched, miraculously. He dug out a can of spray paint he was keeping for his friend. And as he made his way to the parking lot, he took out all his pent-up frustration on the can, shaking it with all his might to make sure the paint blended really well.

When he found Stevie's precious Audi TT Coup, he took a second to admire it. It was silver and gleaming and obviously washed and waxed with care, week in and week out. Then, the hesitation was over. He uncapped his can of paint, then began his masterpiece. He spelled out “faggot” in spray paint on the entire left side of the car - just so Stevie won't see it immediately when he enters through the driver's side. The letters were fat and tall.

But his hands were trembling so badly - the Gs were wobbly and looked like Qs. So, for safe measure, Daniel added a hairy, upright cock on the hood of Stevie's car in case people couldn't read his penmanship. He was always much better at drawing.

He didn't bother hiding the can of paint afterwards. Stevie would know it was him. He tossed the rubbage carelessly over his shoulder as he walked away, and he wished the hollow thunk that followed was the sound of the spray paint can making an unsightly dent on the hood of the Audi. 

The next day, Daniel had barely entered the dressing room when he was thrown to the floor. He skidded on the linoleum, and his knapsack and gym bag dug into his back as he fell. He barely had time to process what was happening, but the thought was clear in his head: Stevie.

“You fucking son of a bitch!” Stevie was yelling at him, voice hoarse from exertion. He took Daniel by the cuff of his shirt and landed a solid blow on his left cheek. The defender didn't have time to react before Stevie was lifting him to his feet and shoving him to the lockers.

Dan fell back a few steps, and tried to spin around and lunge a hit back at Stevie in one move. But he was too disoriented, and the Scouser easily blocked him and buried his fist in Dan's gut. Daniel heard the air leaving his body, and everything was suspended for a moment. Then he crumpled to the floor, his vision shifting between blurry and blacked out. The acids in his stomach crept up his windpipe and he felt like retching.

Other people must have entered the locker room now, and it took a while before someone could stop Stevie from kicking at the fallen boy. Daniel heard Sami's voice trying to calm down Stevie but Carra held the big Finn back.

Stevie crouched down and his fingers were like claws around Dan's chin. “If you fucking mess with me again, I'm gonna kill you.” His eyes were ablaze with a manic kind of anger. Stevie had always hated Daniel with a passion, but today his reaction was over-the-top. He was hysterical.

Maybe it was because Stevie was now the laughingstock of the school. People even got their pictures taken with the defaced car. Worse, Stevie had to make-do with his father's old Toyota station wagon for a month, and that was hardly a pussy magnet.

But Daniel had a nagging feeling it was something more than that.


	2. Setting the stakes

The girl was apparently not as thin as she looked. Daniel shifted in bed as the weight of Anna (Annie? Amber?) bore down on his hips in a sensation that wasn't all too pleasurable.

“Oh!” Anna squeaked as she plunged herself down on Dan's cock. “Oh, yeah! Yes!”

Dan fought the urge to roll his eyes. He was just _lying there_. She couldn't possibly be enjoying that much.

But Anna just kept on gyrating on top of him, planting her hands squarely on Daniel's chest so she could ride him like a stallion. 

“Yeah, fuck my pussy!” She cried out, and once in a while, when Dan was feeling generous, he snapped his hips up to offer her a little movement.

“I'm coming! I'm coming, Daniel!” Anna said, bouncing on his cock in a frenzy. She mashed her breasts, threw back her head and let out a long string of keening noises.

Daniel wondered if it was impolite to reach over for his beer on the bedside table. For someone who was coming, Anna was taking her sweet fucking time.

“Yes!”

Daniel discreetly checked the clock on the far wall. Barely past 11.

“Yes, oh, god, yes!”

He hoped Dirk had remembered to buy another keg of beer. When he left the party an hour ago, they were running low on alcohol.

“Yes! Yes yes yes!”

Did Martin say he was going to come tonight? He still had Dan's DVDs.

Anna slumped down heavily beside him. If it weren't for the sound of her body dropping on the bed, Daniel wouldn't have snapped out of his musing.

“That was intense,” Daniel offered politely, staring up at the ceiling so Anna wouldn't see the deadened look in his eyes. 

“Yeah, well, you made me so wet, babe.” Anna grinned, planting a kiss on Dan's cheek.

 _Okay, that's enough._ Daniel sat up and reached for his beer, immediately taking a long swig so he wouldn't have to respond.

His whole body jolted when he felt the girl's hand wrap around his cock.

“Jesus!”

“Are you done?” She smiled mischievously.

Daniel looked down at his lap, where semen pooled at the tip of his condom. He came so weakly, he barely even noticed. “Yeah, I'm done.”

Anna propped herself up one one elbow, her hand suggestively caressing her boobs. “Round two?”

Dan laughed to cover his hesitation. “That sounds great, but I...” his eyes frantically searched the room for an excuse. He snatched his beer bottle, “I need to get more beer.”

“But it's still half - “

Dan rolled out of bed and picked his briefs off the floor. “Yeah, but since you kept me busy, it's not cold anymore.” He slipped into his jeans, “And warm beer tastes like shit.”

Anna looked down at her naked body. “Well, how about you taste - “

“Uh, I'll see you downstairs, yeah?” Dan interrupted. He nodded at her curtly, then left the room without a backward glance.

*

“It's not even midnight and you've already scored?” Pepe said in way of greeting as Dan stumbled into the kitchen.

Dan just made a face. He seemed more concerned about looking for ice in the freezer.

“Bad sex?”

Dan shrugged. “It was...” He shook and nodded his head at the same time.

Pepe pulled out a kitchen stool for Daniel. “Who was it this time?”

Dan sighed and took his seat beside the Spaniard. “Anna Seymour?”

Pepe whooped. “The senior? With the big puffy lips?”

“Yeah. All the better to nag you with, my dear.” Dan said dryly.

Pepe snickered. “With a rack like hers, I'd let her nag me all she wants.”

Dan shrugged noncommittally. He sipped on his vodka tonic. “Is sex still enjoyable for you, Pepe?”

Pepe barked out laughing. “Hell, yeah. If I could, I would swim in pussy all day.”

Dan sighed heavily. “It doesn't seem as fun anymore.”

Pepe tsked. He uncapped the bottle of Absolut and poured more liquor into Dan's glass. Now, it was more vodka than tonic.

“That's because you sleep with everyone.”

“So?”

“You're getting too much sex!”

“Is there really such a thing as too much sex?”

“If you're getting tired of it, then yeah.” Pepe pointed out.

Dan took a loud gulp of his drink. “I feel so discontented.”

A slow smile spread on Pepe's face. A slow, dangerous smile. The kind that lit up his eyes and made the bald Spaniard rub his chin thoughtfully.

“What?” Dan asked warily.

“You know what you need? You need a challenge.”

Dan replied dryly. “This is New York. Nobody can be bothered to put up a challenge.”

Then, Pepe got a faraway look in his eyes. He broke into a smile by himself.

“What are you thinking about?” Dan asked. He pushed Pepe's beer bottle closer to him, to urge the goalkeeper to drink more.

But, Pepe just smiled innocently. “It's nothing.”

“I don't believe you,” Dan answered flatly.

Pepe hid behind his beer. “No, I swear, it's just something I remembered. I'll explain it to you on Monday, yeah?”

Dan frowned. “Why Monday? Why not now? Tonight?”

The goalkeeper waved his hand dismissively. “No. This Monday. I'll see you during football practice. Let's discuss then.”

*

That Monday, it turned out, there was going to be a new boy on the team. A family friend of Pepe’s, new in town.

“His name’s Fernando,” Pepe told Daniel as they headed to the gym for training.

Daniel just nodded and promptly forgot about it.

But when they entered the changing rooms, he stopped on his tracks when he saw the new boy. He had one leg propped up on the bench, bent over as he carefully taped over his ankles. His shorts were hiked up, exposing a thick, creamy thigh with a spattering of moles and freckles. The fabric was spread taut against a fit, bubble butt.

Daniel didn't notice Pepe sidle up beside him. The goalkeeper smirked, “I had a feeling you would like him.”

They made their way to their lockers. When they were out of earshot, Daniel whispered naughtily. “Can I have him?”

Pepe grinned widely. “Would you believe he's a virgin?”

Daniel blinked slowly. “Excuse me?”

“He’s a virgin,” Pepe repeated, clearly enjoying this.

A small smile played on Dan's lips. He looked the boy up and down again, “No way.”

Pepe shrugged, “It's not like he can't find people to fuck him. It's just that – wait, you'll love this,” he tried to keep a straight face, “He doesn't want to have sex with anyone.”

Dan burst out. “What?!”

Pepe's eyes widened, shushing the Dane as a few of their teammates stopped to stare at them. When everyone went back to their own business, Pepe whispered sarcastically, “He has a purity ring and all.”

The defender snorted. “Wow. Like a Jonas brother?”

“For a punk-ass, your pop culture references are dubious.”

“Shit,” Dan laughed. “This is crazy. I mean, I've slept with virgins before, but they were willing virgins.”

Pepe cracked up too, “He wants to save himself for The One.”

“I see you're being a supportive friend,” Dan noted wryly.

“True friends make you see the light.”

“So, basically, you want me to...?”

Pepe grinned. “I want you to take his virginity.”

Dan nodded slowly, approvingly. He couldn't stifle his mischievous grin if he tried.

“What's the clincher?”

Pepe was quiet for a moment. He glanced at his friend, as Fernando quietly headed to his own locker, minding himself and making no fuss. Everyone was still in their school clothes, chatting among themselves. In contrast, Fernando was already in his complete training gear, all bright and shiny and eager.

“I bet you can't do it.”

Dan blinked then burst out laughing. He laughed loudly and heartily, Pepe felt slightly offended.

“You don't know me at all, do you, Reina?”

The Spaniard was miffed. “No, I know you too well. You sleep with everyone. Everyone easy. I don't think you can handle a challenge.”

Daniel really wanted to think long and hard about the bet. He really did. He had to measure the risk, measure the probability for success. But, he was baited so easily with provocation. It was always his character flaw. 

The defender nodded at Pepe and goaded, “Care to put your money where your mouth is?”

Pepe's eyes lit up. He loved himself a good game. He enunciated the words with astounding conviction and clarity. “I bet you $500 you can't sleep with Fernando Torres.”

“Okay, first, $500 isn't going to get you anywhere in New York City.”

“Fine. A thousand.” The goalkeeper countered without batting an eyelash.

Dan nodded slowly, impressed. “Now, that’s a real wager.”

“I'll give you the entire semester to do it.”

“Fuck you, we’re halfway through the semester.”

“Yeah, so that gives you two and a half, three months?” Pepe snickered. “Besides, you look pretty cocky anyway.”

Ah, there it was again with the provocation. Daniel jumped in immediately. “Deal,” he said.

“I thought so.”

The goalkeeper approached Fernando. The new boy was just standing there, watching everyone carefully, quietly. It was easy to mistake his silence for meekness but Pepe knew he had an intensity about him that nobody ever expected.

Pepe tapped Fernando's shoulder, and he looked up.

“Hey, Fernando, come here. This is Daniel.”

Daniel extended his hand, and Fernando shook it readily.

“Hey there,” Fernando smiled.

Daniel breathed in sharply. The boy was even more gorgeous up close. His eyes were chocolate brown, his cheekbones were sharp, his lips were bitten red.

That face. _That face._ Daniel would fuck that face. Then fuck that body. And get paid a grand for it too.

Pepe raised his eyebrows at him from behind Fernando.

Daniel shot him a confident grin. He was winning this.


	3. In motion

“Excuse me, Daniel Agger, are you admitting defeat already?” Pepe poked his friend, “Why haven’t you started pursuing Fernando yet?”

Daniel rolled his eyes. It’s been a week – seven long days – since he agreed to the challenge of seducing Fernando. He hated that he had to wait. But he knew he had to take it slow, something he wasn’t particularly good at.

“I’m just taking my time.”

“Well, time’s a-tickin’.”

Dan sighed, admitting, “I don’t really know where to start.”

Pepe grinned smugly, “Which was basically my point, thank you, give me my $1,000.”

Dan punched him on the shoulder. “Hey, fuck you, I still have until the end of the semester!” He looked over his shoulder to where Fernando was standing by his locker. He still barely had friends, other than Pepe. If you counted Pepe, that was. The goalkeeper _was_ trying to auction off his virginity.

“Don’t you have any tips? Favourite colour, favourite football team, favourite movie?”

Pepe cracked up, “Hey, man, I’m getting myself a thousand dollars if you fuck up. You’re on your own.”

Dan gritted his teeth. Fuck, he had to come up with something. And he had to come up with something fast.

*

Dan waited after training to get Fernando alone. Most players had gone back inside the locker rooms, but he’d noticed earlier that Fernando tended to stay behind to do extra exercises.

He approached the boy and casually dropped down on the grass next to him. “Hey, new kid.”

“Hey,” Fernando answered, still trying to catch his breath from the laps they had run. “It’s Fernando, by the way.”

“Sorry about that,” Dan grinned, pretending to have forgotten the Spaniard’s name. “I’m bad with names. But I assume you’ve forgotten mine too, so I guess we’re even.”

Fernando laughed. “Daniel.”

Dan nodded slowly, impressed. “So, how are you holding up?”

The Spaniard used his shirt to wipe off the sweat from his forehead. “Training’s tough. I haven’t played in a month since my family was busy with our move to New York. I’m trying to put some extra time in so I can catch up with everyone.”

Dan took a deep breath – here goes nothing. “Well, if you ever need someone to train with, my friends and I usually hold pick-up games in Central Park after school.”

This wasn’t really true – it was hard to get all his friends free at a common time, and Central Park was always crowded when schools let out. They’ve held pick-up games there about twice this entire school year. But, it sounded like a friendly enough invitation.

Fernando smiled. A warm, genuine and trusting smile. “Really? Sure!”

Dan smiled back, relieved. “That’s great.” He averted his gaze and stared down the far end of the pitch where the coaches were clearing the training gear. He did his best to seem nonchalant. “Just give me your number or something so I can contact you,” Dan said.

“Sure. My phone’s in the changing room, though, so…”

Dan finished smoothly, “I’ll drop by your locker before heading out.”

Fernando beamed at him, and Dan had to stop himself from pumping his fist in the air. That wasn’t so bad.

*

Daniel’s goal now was to talk to at least once Fernando every day. He wondered if this was how friends were made in real life. It was such a delicate, time-consuming process.

There were times when his attempts at a conversation would work -

_“Oh, you’re reading Les Liaisons Dangereuses,” Daniel pointed to the book beside Fernando._

_“Yeah, I am,” Fernando said, pushing his things to one side to give the defender room to sit at his lunch table._

_“How do you like it so far?”_

_Fernando wrinkled his nose, and Dan laughed. “It gets better in the latter parts,” he assured._

But there were times when Daniel failed miserably too –

_“Hey, you grew up in Madrid, right?”_

_“Yeah, why?”_

_“So, you must be a big Real Madrid supporter, huh?”_

_Pepe guffawed so loudly behind them. Fernando scowled at Dan, as if he were personally offended by the question. “I hate Real Madrid,” he said flatly._

_“Oh,” Dan’s face burned up. He mumbled, “Sorry.” Then he quickly slunk away, but not before giving Pepe a good slap on the head to make him stop laughing._

*

Stevie held out his hand to Fernando and they exchanged high-fives.

“Good game today,” Stevie nodded, and Fernando quickly blushed.

“Thanks,” he said, feeling warm all the way until his toes. He’d been getting the hang of training, recently. It was faster and more physical than what he was used to in Spain, but all the extra hours he’s put in had started to pay off.

“We haven’t had a striker as fast as you for a while now. I’ll have to release the ball earlier next time, so you can run onto it and beat the offside trap,” Stevie explained as they walked to the sidelines where the coaches were handing out Gatorade. “We’ll get it right next training.”

Fernando just nodded. He didn’t think it was his place to talk yet, not without a question directed at him. Stevie had an intimidating air about him.

Carra approached them, and Fernando felt even more uncomfortable.

“Hey,” Carra greeted Stevie, and then gave Fernando a perfunctory nod. From what he saw of Carra, though, a nod was already a good thing.

“You did well today,” Carra told Fernando.

“Thanks,” Fernando mumbled softly again. It was unbelievable, the amount of effort he was exerting, taking great care not to say anything out of turn or do anything out of step. He felt like a peon.

“Just a little more training and maybe you can actually start scoring against me,” Carra remarked, and the two captains laughed among themselves. Fernando let himself chuckle too, but his insides churned.

He had easily nutmegged Carra in the training match earlier, but the defender tripped him as he was closing in on goal. He could swear to all things holy that Carra didn’t get any of the ball, but he wasn’t about to hanker for a penalty either.

“Anyway, you just stay with us, and you’ll be fine,” Stevie said, giving Fernando a strong slap on the back, it almost knocked him off balance.

“Sure,” Fernando said, mustering a small smile.

*

“Hey,” Dan stopped by Fernando’s locker. “Are you headed to the student assembly?”

Fernando nodded, taking out books from his bag, “Unfortunately. How about you?”

“Yeah. We can head there together,” Dan said with a half-shrug, hoping the invitation sounded casual enough.

“Sure, come on,” Fernando said, shutting his locker. 

They walked side by side down the hallway. Since most students were heading for the assembly too, it was more crowded than usual. Their shoulders were pressed against each other as they navigated their way through the throng of people.

They reached the theatre and fell in line to sign the attendance sheets. It was just Daniel’s luck, though, that the other guys from the football team were there by the entrance too. He saw Carra glance at him and then Fernando, and then nudge Stevie.

Dan’s chest tightened. He never did get to become friends with Stevie – not after all that happened. Their fighting had simmered down, and most of the time they just ignored each other pointedly. But there were still days when Stevie would be in a foul mood, and he would make endless snide remarks about Daniel when the team was together.

Daniel, for his part, just tried to stay away from the Scouser. It was much, much easier that way. It got tiring after a while, standing up for yourself.

“Hey, Fernando,” Dan interrupted Fernando who was in the middle of telling him about his Physics exam this morning. “Why don’t we move to that line?” He pointed to a longer line beside him, father from the jocks.

Fernando’s forehead furrowed. “Why? It’s moving slower.”

Daniel clucked his tongue, wondering if he should press the issue.

“Fernando!”

_Too late._ Daniel’s blood ran cold. He hated the almost instinctive way the fear racked through him.

Stevie didn’t even bother approaching them. He just motioned for Fernando to approach him instead.

“Let’s go and see what Stevie wants,” Fernando said.

Dan just stared back at him dumbly. Of course Fernando didn’t know the history between Daniel and Stevie.

Dan looked up. Stevie was glaring at him, as if daring him to keep Fernando from joining them. Daniel glared right back.

“Are you alright?” Fernando asked him, still oblivious.

Dan sighed. He could feel a migraine coming on. “I’m fine,” he muttered. “You go to Stevie. I’ll stay here and save our place in line,” he finished lamely.

“Okay,” Fernando shrugged. “I’ll be quick. Wait for me.”

The striker excused himself from the line and made his way to their teammates. Even before Fernando could join their group, Stevie was already asking loudly, “You’re hanging out with Agger?” It seemed like such a casual question, but Daniel recognised the sharp, condescending edge.

Dan stared straight ahead, inching along until he got to the front of the line. He wondered if he should sign up for Fernando and himself.

However, Fernando was still deep in conversation with Stevie, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the Scouser could be telling him.

Dan’s migraine was throbbing now. He scribbled his name furiously on the attendance sheet and hurried inside the auditorium without looking back.

*

“Hey! Daniel!”

Dan walked faster, pretending not to hear. It was pointless, though. As he learned in training, Fernando could show a clean pair of heels to anyone.

“Dan, wait up!” Fernando jogged up to him after the student assembly.

Dan relented and slowed down so they could walk in stride. “What’s up? He asked in a deadened tone.

“You disappeared earlier.”

“I thought you were sitting with Stevie and Carra. I looked for other friends to sit with.” Dan said flatly.

“I told you to wait for me,” Fernando reminded lightly, adding a measured chuckle.

Dan didn’t reply. He pushed open the school doors and took the ramp to the parking lot. “I’m heading home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Dan dug out his car keys from the pocket of his jeans. But Fernando propped up against the door of his car, blocking the way.

Dan sighed. This was the one time he didn’t want Fernando to notice him, and now the boy was hanging around like a lost puppy.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Fernando blurted out. “You’ve been really nice to me since I moved here. I didn’t mean to leave you high and dry at the assembly.”

Dan listened incredulously. He couldn’t believe Fernando was apologising to him for talking to Stevie. His iron-clad morals were disconcerting.

“It’s fine,” Dan waved Fernando away.

“Come on, I’ll make it up to you. I’m starving – let’s go and grab a pizza. My treat.”

Dan snickered. He elbowed Fernando off his car and popped open the door. “I don’t think Stevie will approve.”

Fernando crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrow.

“What?” Daniel yelped.

“Really? You’re using Stevie as an excuse?” Fernando retorted, unimpressed.

Dan’s jaw dropped. He thought of reasoning out, but there was nothing that came to mind that didn’t sound whiny.

“Fine,” he sighed, jutting his thumb to the passenger door. “Get in.”

*

“So, do you want to explain to me what the deal is between you and Stevie?” Fernando asked, brushing the crumbs off his mouth.

Dan sat back in the booth they shared. Of course the topic was going to be brought up. At least Fernando waited after the meal to ask the question.

Dan shrugged, “Why, what did Stevie tell you?”

Fernando looked down at his plate. “Well, he asked me if we were friends.”

“And you said?”

“Of course I said yes!”

Dan would have smiled, but he was too preoccupied with their discussion. He could feel the blood pumping in his veins.

“Anyway, he said it would be better if I just hung out with him and his friends,” Fernando explained quietly. “Stevie called you a number of things – uncontrollable, violent, went off the rails a lot.”

Dan’s jaw dropped. “Me? Violent?”

“He said you injured him on purpose or something.”

“Yeah, and he and his friends beat me up! He even tried to get me off the team!” Dan yelled.

Fernando recoiled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was still a sensitive topic.”

Dan rolled his hands into fists, his jaw clenched, his breaths ragged. He felt so angry. And he felt so hurt. He’s never done anything to Stevie and his friends. He only fought back. And now he was the uncontrollable one? He went off the rails?

Fernando reached out to touch Dan’s hand, and the defender flinched visibly. Fernando held back.

He could live with the fact that Stevie and Carra would never accept him. And he wasn’t going to lie and said he didn’t care. Of course, he cared. The two were his captains and were great football players in their league. It stung not to have their backing, when he was their teammate just like everyone else.

But, he could live with that. What really set him off was that Stevie was actively destroying Dan to other people. Sure, Fernando was just the subject of a bet, but he could well have been his friend too. Stevie was taking away his friends.

Dan looked back up. Fernando was watching him intently, waiting for him to calm down.

“Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine.”

Fernando nodded and sipped his Coke quietly.

“Sorry,” Dan offered. “This is such an old issue already. I’m over it. I’m just not used to it being brought up now.”

Fernando smiled. “I understand.”

“It just annoys me that I’ve always tried to be nice to them, and it’s like they go out of their way to make my life miserable. If they don’t want to be friends, then they should just leave me alone,” Dan said, his voice rising again.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Fernando said soothingly. “Don’t get too stressed about it.”

Dan took a deep breath. “Sorry,” he said again.

“Thanks for telling me,” Fernando said, leaning forward on his elbows, gazing at Daniel with kind eyes and a sincere smile.

Dan looked away. He was always distrustful of sympathy.

But, he stopped for a second. He suddenly noticed – Fernando was acting differently around him.

The Spaniard was open. Trusting. Unguarded.

A slow smile spread across Daniel’s face. This was the in he’s been looking for.

“I have to admit. All this time I had you down as a completely different person,” Fernando said. “Now I realise, you’re just misunderstood.”

Dan smiled back meekly. “Thank you for listening too,” he cooed. It sounded so foreign to his ears. “Listen, if you don’t have plans tonight, do you want to grab a beer or something first? I just need to unwind, let loose a little.”

Daniel’s been asking Fernando out for drinks for days now. Fernando’s had an excuse for every invitation so far – he had an exam, his parents needed him home early, he wasn’t feeling well.

But tonight, Fernando nodded without a second thought. “I’m free.”

Dan clapped his hands. “Great! Let’s go then.”


	4. They fall like dominos

The party at Pepe’s house was dying out already. The music had been turned down, so that the bass only reverberated around the living room, where the dance floor was earlier. The guests who could still stand were making their way out, while others were passed out all around the house. Only small groups of two or three were left, littered around the garden, drinking beers and smoking fags to cap off the night.

The birthday boy himself, Pepe, had retired upstairs a good two hours ago. Daniel remembered seeing him leave the party with a cheerleader on each arm.

“Is it true what they say about you?” Fernando asked all of a sudden. Daniel glanced at the Spaniard standing at the other end of the ping-pong table. He was juggling the ping-pong ball from one hand to another, the motion making Daniel’s vision fuzzy.

“What do they say about me?” He asked, rearranging the cups filled with beers in a triangle on the table.

Fernando took aim and threw the ball lopsidedly. It bounced once on the table and then fell to the side. Daniel grabbed it before it rolled around the floor and under a piece of furniture. Ping-pong balls have a nasty habit of getting lost during important rounds of beer pong.

“They say you’ve slept with everyone.”

Daniel snickered. He lobbed the ball over on Fernando’s side of the table, and it fell with a gentle plop inside one of the cups filled with beer. The Spaniard fished it out with a grimace, wiping the plastic ball on his jeans.

“Drink it,” Dan nodded at the cup he targeted. He leaned lazily on the ping-pong table as he waited for Fernando to finish chugging his alcohol. “I wouldn’t say I’ve slept with _everyone_ ,” he mused.

Fernando nodded slowly. He placed his empty cup on the floor and prepared to take another shot. But it was obvious his mind was on something else. His brow was furrowed deeply.

He threw the ball with a little too much force and it missed the cups of beer completely. Dan even had to take a step to the side to avoid getting hit.

“Sorry,” the Spaniard mumbled.

Dan dropped to his hands and knees to retrieve the ball from the floor. Somewhere down the far end of the ping-pong table, Fernando was reciting a monologue.

“See, I don’t understand that. This whole idea of sleeping with everyone,” Fernando said. He sighed in frustration, “Sex is about an entirely different level of physical intimacy. You don’t just hug random strangers in the street. So, why is it okay to sleep with them?”

Dan straightened up. “So it’s true what they say about you.”

“What do they say about me?”

“You’re a virgin.”

Interestingly, Fernando blushed at Daniel’s words, like he was embarrassed, despite his opinionated tirade earlier.

“I’m just not that type of person who sleeps with whoever he likes.”

“On the contrary,” Dan wagged his finger, “I don’t necessarily like everyone I sleep with.”

Fernando rolled his eyes, but a small smile was evident on his lips.

Daniel walked over to his side of the table. “And, I don’t sleep with everyone I like,” he continued pointedly.

Fernando looked up at him in surprise. Daniel took two cups of beer off the table and handed one to the Spaniard. They clinked their cups together and drank in silence.

After a while, they put away their beers. However, Dan didn’t move away.

“What?” Fernando asked, chuckling nervously.

Dan put his hands on Fernando’s waist and pulled him closer. Fernando didn’t resist.

Their foreheads were leaned together, their noses were touching, their limbs were intertwined – every part of their body was in contact with each other’s except for their lips.

Two rooms down, someone had the sense to kill the music, and the house was quiet for once that night.

“I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to,” Dan said in hushed tones. He ran his hands over Fernando’s bare arms, and he felt the goose pimples rising on his skin.

Fernando let out a shaky breath. For a brief unguarded moment, it seemed like he would let Daniel kiss him. But that moment passed quickly, and he turned his head away.

“No.”

Dan tilted Fernando’s chin upward so he could look him in the eye. “No?” He asked.

“Not now.” Fernando said, with a quiver in his voice. He cleared his throat and took a step back. He clarified shyly, “Not yet.”

Dan nodded, biting back a triumphant smile. He would take that answer.

“I’ll wait,” he said, and Fernando’s face immediately turned red.

There was barely a month left before the bet ended, but Dan wasn’t nervous anymore. Victory was so close, he could taste it.

*

Fernando was on his way to the cloakroom at Pepe’s house when he bumped into Stevie.

“Hey, there you are, I’ve been looking all over for you,” he greeted.

“Sorry, I was in the other room.” Fernando fibbed, “A couple of kids were playing beer pong and I was watching.”

“The boys and I are heading back to my place, continue this party, you know? Come with us,” Stevie said. And even though the Scouser was much more relaxed and loose tonight given the amount of alcohol he’s already had, his words still had an authoritative edge to it.

“But it’s nearly 5 AM,” Fernando commented. He didn’t have the courage to look at Stevie head-on, so he busied himself with retrieving his jacket from the rack.

“Yeah, that’s still early!” Stevie said, “Come on, we’ll have a few rounds of beer, smoke out a bit. Just to take the edge off.”

Fernando eyed the front door cautiously. “That sounds great, but I’m really tired. I think I’ll head home.”

Stevie followed the Spaniard’s gaze and saw Daniel standing out on the porch, obviously waiting for Fernando.

Fernando was already wincing before Stevie even raised an eyebrow.

“You know, I don’t think it’s a good idea that’s you’re hanging around with Daniel Agger so often,” Stevie said through gritted teeth.

Fernando shook his head. “You’re wrong about him, Stevie.”

“You’ve only known him for a month! Haven’t you heard what people say about him?”

“Those things aren’t true,” Fernando defended.

“I told you before to stay away from him.”

“Look, I don’t give a fuck what you say,” Fernando bit back, and the vehemence in his response took both boys aback.

“I’ll go ahead,” Fernando mumbled. He kept his head down as he made his way out the house. Behind him, he could sense Stevie bristling with anger and disbelief.

* 

Something was wrong, Stevie thought. Something was very wrong. Daniel was not the type to hang out with boys like Fernando.

It was impossible that he wanted to be friends with Fernando. Daniel kept close to only a small group of friends – a couple of Danish boys he went to indie films and rock concerts with.

Sure, Daniel had friends in the football team, like Pepe. But they didn’t hang out just the two of them, not like Daniel did with Fernando.

Maybe Daniel and Fernando were going out? Stevie gagged at the thought.

Besides, Daniel didn’t _go out_ with people. He fucked them. On the rare times that he bothered to make an effort, he took them out to a dinner or two. But only to coax a fuck out of them when they were playing particularly hard-to-get.

One thing was for sure, Daniel wasn’t acting like himself. Stevie knew Daniel inside and out – it was basic war strategy. Something was very wrong, and he was going to find out what it was.

*

“I’m nervous,” Fernando whispered.

Daniel laughed, “It’ll be fine. My friends are nice.”

They crossed the park to the public pitch. A small group of boys was already there doing stretches.

Daniel was never the type to introduce his boys to his friends. But, he needed a grand gesture to convince Fernando that he was serious about him. And he had a feeling his friends might actually like Fernando since he was a darn good striker. Their pick-up games were becoming so boring since their frontman, Nicklas, was going through a bad patch of form.

“Hey, guys,” Daniel called out. The other players looked up and waved at the two newcomers.

“Fernando, these are my friends. Friends, this is Fernando.”

Nicklas Bendtner and Christian Poulsen, Dan’s closest friends in the bunch, nodded more meaningfully than others. They knew of the bet and were more than happy to help out.

Nick offered to be the striker in Dan’s team, while Christian picked Fernando for the opposing team.

“Dan, you can mark Fernando since you keep on telling us how good he is,” Nick called out loudly so that everyone could hear.

Dan approached Fernando, “Since you’re the guest of honour, I’ll let you choose. Shirts or skins?”

Fernando blinked. “Huh?”

“Shirts or skins. One team gets to play with shirts on, the other with shirts off. It’s so you can tell who your teammates are,” Christian explained.

“Oh.” Fernando bit his lip. “Shirts, I guess.”

Daniel shrugged. As expected. It would have been too easy if Fernando stripped down in front of him anyway.

In fact, this worked perfectly in Daniel’s favour.

“Come on, boys,” Dan clapped to get his team’s attention. “Take it off.”

They all tugged off their shirts. Dan didn’t miss the way Fernando’s eyes raked appreciatively over his body.

Fernando coughed. “I like the art.”

Dan snickered. _Of course you do._

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere.” Dan said. He walked back to his team and made sure to bump forcefully into Fernando, “You’d be lucky to score against us.”

Fernando grinned defiantly. “Wanna bet?”

Dan almost tripped over his own feet over the Spaniard’s choice of words. But he regained his composure quickly. “I’m marking you closely, Torres.”

“Come on, stop flirting,” Nick clapped the two of them on the back. “Let’s get this party started. I want to win already.”

*

It was another well-timed pass from one of his teammates, and Fernando thought he would get to it this time. But just when he was about to stretch out to run, Daniel was immediately at his side, matching him stride for stride. Fernando didn’t have enough room to reach the ball, and he watched helplessly as it rolled harmlessly out of the pitch. 

Fernando frowned but held up a thumbs-up for his teammate.

“Come on, now, Torres, you’re embarrassing me,” Dan smirked as they walked back to their positions as the keeper brought the ball back into play. “I told my friends you were a decent player.”

Fernando glared at him. “You don’t usually man-mark this tightly.”

“I’m sorry, were you expecting me to lie down on the grass and just watch you score a goal?” Daniel mocked.

The play had begun again. Fernando jogged upfield so he could get the ball earlier. But by the time he got anywhere near the penalty area, Daniel was right there in front of him, grabbing his shirt, pulling him back to keep him from running.

Normally, Fernando didn’t back down from tussles like these. He was used to being jostled by defenders who thought that they could just manhandle strikers, especially those who looked as pretty as Fernando.

But every time Fernando tried to fight back, his hand clawing against the skin of Daniel’s stomach, his back pressing against the defender’s firm chest… a violent shudder wracked through his body.

Another through-ball passed him, and this time Fernando didn’t even bother attempting to run after it.

Daniel nudged him with his elbow as he walked past. “Don’t make this too easy for me, Torres,” he taunted. Fernando stared after him, fascinated with the way the sweat shone on his tattoo-battered back under the sunlight.

“Oy,” Christian cuffed him sharply on the back of the head, “Get your head in the game.”

But Fernando was slowly unravelling. 

At one point, during a corner, Daniel held up his arms to keep Fernando from getting into space. Growing increasingly impatient, Fernando swatted his limbs away.

Challenged, Dan stepped in even closer to obstruct Fernando.

The Spaniard tried to shove him away. “Get off me,” he growled. He was becoming unnaturally ill-tempered. There was so much _frustration_ bubbling inside him – it was like a fire had been lit in his belly, and it made him feel feverish.

Christian booted the ball in from the corner, as the defender and striker both battled for position. Their tussling tangled them with each other. Dan grabbed fistfuls of Fernando’s shirt to keep him from running, while Fernando squirmed in his arms, stubbornly trying to get away.

“Get off – ”

“No – ” Dan grunted in response.

He hooked his arm around Fernando’s waist and roughly pulled the boy against him, their bodies solidly crashing together. Fernando couldn’t stifle the moan that slipped between his clenched teeth. The physicality, the dominance, the brute force – it was turning him on.

Once the realisation hit him, Fernando’s eyes flew open.

“Fuck,” he blurted out.

Dan whirled him around. “What?” He asked, although it was clear in his expression that he understood. A smirk was tugging at the corner of his lips.

“Nothing, nothing,” Fernando said, shaking his head and moving away dazedly.

Somebody called for half-time, and they all trudged off the pitch. Fernando hurried away from Daniel, heading straight for the cooler to get himself an ice-cold bottle of water. He was feeling flushed.

Daniel tailed him. “What’s wrong? You look bothered.”

Fernando scoffed into his drink. Bothered? _Bothered?_ Damn, right, he was bothered. “Now put a fucking shirt on and stay five feet away,” he wanted to bark out.

Instead, he just turned on his heel and left. He hid by the shade underneath the bleachers. Maybe it was the sun that was making him feel light-headed.

“Hey, Fernando,” Dan said. “What’s the matter?”

Fernando took a long swig of water. “Nothing. I’m just feeling a little faint from the sun,” he mumbled, dropping down to the grass.

Dan kneeled down in front of him and placed his palm on the striker’s forehead. His skin was hot to the touch. Fernando’s gaze flickered up at him. Behind his eyes, his emotions were clearly warring. But his hands had already made their way to Dan’s hips with surprising sureness.

They were partially hidden underneath the bleachers, but the sounds of their friends and teammates filtered through the slats. They were chattering among themselves, preparing for the second half of the match. They were so close.

Daniel pushes Fernando back until he’s lying on the dried-out grass, with the defender on top of him. For someone so conflicted, Fernando readily spreads out his legs so that Dan can settle between them.

Fernando’s nails were digging into Daniel’s side now. But the pain barely registered in Dan’s lust-addled brain. His hands cupped Fernando’s face possessively, and he could hear the deep, ragged breaths leaving the Spaniard’s body.

Still, Daniel held back. _I’m not going to be the one who kisses him first._ Because that would be easy and that would be unfair, and Fernando could be scared away and… and Dan would lose his bet, the thought ended lamely in his head.

No, Fernando had to show him that he wanted this too.

The problem was, he was taking longer than he should to decide. Daniel could see the wheels turning in Fernando’s head as he struggled to make sense of this predicament. The rationality was registering again in Fernando’s expression.

“This doesn’t have to be a very difficult decision,” Daniel breathed hotly against the shell of Fernando’s ear, desperately trying to get him in the mood again. Fernando moaned in response, but it was weak and strangled.

Dan’s face fell. Grudgingly, he sat up. He knew when he had lost, and begging was not his style.

Fernando propped himself up on his elbows. “I’m sorry,” he stammered.

Daniel shook his head, his eyebrows furrowed deeply. “It’s fine,” he answered dismissively.

By this time, the halftime break had passed. Nicklas was hollering from the other side of the bleachers. “Agger! Where the fuck are you?” Then he began to taunt in Danish, “You better not have ditched us for a thousand-dollar fuck!”

Dan bolted to his feet and rounded the bleachers so that Nick could see him. “I’m here, goddammit,” he shouted back, adding in Danish, “And you better watch your mouth, Bendtner.”

Nick held up his hands in surrender. “But you were with Fernando, right?”

Dan rolled his eyes. “Yeah. So?”

“So? Did you score?”

Dan frowned. “No.”

“No, you mean, no home run? But at least you got to third base?”

Dan stared back at him sullenly.

“Shit. Second?” Nick’s eyes widened in horror. “First?”

“This is proving more difficult than I thought it would be.”

“No base at all? You didn’t even leave the dugout? Am I using the right baseball references?”

Dan gripped Nick’s arms and shook him. “So close, Nick. We were so close already, and then he lost his nerve.”

Nick burst out laughing. “No wonder you’re cranky as fuck.”

Dan grimaced. “I’m getting fucking blue balls with this one.”

Nick’s eyes flickered downwards to Dan’s crotch – his friend was half-hard.

Nick offered slowly. “My parents are out of town this week.”

Dan’s eyebrows raised. It’s been a while since he’s slept with Nick. What a shame, he did give pretty good head, from what he remembered.

“I don’t have plans tonight,” Dan said.

“Me too.”

“Maybe I’ll drop by.”

“Okay.”

*

The car ride back home was stony in its silence. Fernando fidgeted with his seatbelt, while Daniel gripped the steering wheel tightly.

Fernando couldn’t tell if Daniel was angry or embarrassed or frustrated. He wouldn’t speak to him, and whenever Fernando asked what was wrong, Daniel just kept saying “I’m fine.”

When they got to Fernando’s apartment building, Daniel put on his hazard lights but didn’t kill the engine. _That probably means Daniel’s not coming up_ , Fernando thought, disappointed.

“Thanks for the ride,” Fernando said, unbuckling his seatbelt.

“No problem,” Dan said, busying himself with collecting all the crumpled parking receipts stashed in the cupholders of his car.

“Um,” Fernando blathered. He waited for Daniel to stop moving around, “Do you want to hang out first? I saved our FIFA game from last week.”

Dan forced a smile. “That’s great. But maybe next week.” Dan’s eyes were shifty as he added, “I made plans tonight.”

Fernando nodded. “Oh. I see.”

Daniel leaned back against his seat, wondering when Fernando would get out of his car already. The tension was suffocating him.

“Who are you going out with?”

Dan rubbed his temples. “It’s just Nick.”

“Nick.” Fernando repeated. “You were just with him.” And he hated how psychotic he sounded with that comment.

Dan shrugged. “He wants to hang out.”

It was clear from the slow and patronising way Fernando nodded his head that he could see through Dan’s white lie.

Fernando made his way out of his car. As he was collecting his bag and his cleats from the floor, he mumbled, “Look, I already said sorry about earlier, okay. I’m sorry.”

Dan stifled a scoff. “And I already said, it’s fine.”

“Clearly, it’s not.”

Daniel shot him a glance. “Why do you even feel the need to apologise? You don’t have to say sorry if you don’t want me.”

Fernando’s jaw dropped. “That’s not – I – ” he stammered uncomfortably. He tried again: “I want you,” he said, his jaw clenched as he struggled to get the words out. “But right now, I don’t trust myself with you.”

Daniel looked like he’d been slapped. So, Fernando didn’t trust him.

But then again, Dan thought, wasn’t Fernando right?

This was fucked up. Dan settled back into his seat and stared straight out into the road. “It’s fine,” he said for the last time.

Fernando sighed and slammed the door behind him.

*

“Pepe,” Stevie clapped the goalkeeper’s back, “We’re heading down to the IMAX later.”

Pepe, who’s known Stevie for a couple of years now, understood that that was his version of an invitation. Stevie, of course, did not _ask_ people to hang out with him. It was merely implied.

“Sure,” he said.

“Tell Fernando too,” Stevie said, “I haven’t seen him all day.”

“Oh, he left school early. I think he went out with Daniel to play football.”

“But we don’t have training today.”

“Yeah, they had a pick-up game with some of Dan’s friends.”

Stevie crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrow suspiciously. “Please explain this to me.”

Pepe burst out laughing. “Explain what?”

“You know what. I am not buying this whole idea of Fernando and Daniel becoming friends. And you’re finding this funny, so you obviously know something.”

Pepe cracked up even more. “I’m actually not sure if they’ve become _real_ friends. I don’t think that was part of the plan.”

Stevie’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “A plan?”

“Well, a bet.”

“A bet!” Stevie almost burst out laughing too. He was getting ridiculously excited.

“I probably shouldn’t even be telling you this. If Fernando finds out about it…”

Stevie cut him off, “Pepe, this is easy. Will telling me about this bet make it easier for you to win it?”

Pepe grinned from ear to ear. “You know what? We should really have a talk.”

Stevie smiled smugly. A bet. That made things even more interesting. Especially since Fernando looked like he was falling for the trap.

This called for a change in strategy.

*

When their doorman rang the intercom and told Fernando that he had a visitor, his heart skipped a beat. He raced down the hall to get the door, but it wasn’t Daniel at his doorstep.

It was Stevie.

Fernando’s sour mood turned for the worse. “What are you doing here?”

Stevie shuffled his feet. “I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?”

Fernando gripped the doorknob tightly. “I think I know what you’re going to tell me, and thanks, Stevie, I appreciate your advice, but…”

“No, no. I came to apologise,” Stevie cut him off.

Fernando stared at him. Stevie shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

“Come in,” Fernando relented.

They headed to the kitchen. Fernando wasn’t thirsty, but his mother always told him to bring out refreshments for guests. He rummaged around their fridge and brought out two bottles of beer.

Stevie took the bottles from him and pried them open just by deftly wedging them against the corner of the table.

“Nifty.”

“Thanks. Party trick.” 

Fernando relaxed a little once he had a little beer. Before the Daniel situation, he got along fine with Stevie. He kind of missed it.

“Anyway, I wanted to say sorry. I was out of line telling you to stay away from Daniel,” Stevie said earnestly. He stopped and added jokingly, “Of course, I still hate the guy. But that’s me.”

Fernando chuckled. “Thanks. He’s not so bad, you know.”

Stevie took a long sip of his drink. “I’ve noticed you two have gotten close.”

Fernando half-smiled, half-grimaced. “Yeah, I guess. But, I don’t know.”

Stevie nodded slowly. They both drank in thoughtful silence.

“If you don’t mind me asking… is anything going on between the two of you?”

Fernando turned bright red. “No. No, no, nothing.”

Stevie winked. “That was too many no’s for that to mean just a no.”

“No!” Fernando caught himself and tried again. “We’re friends.”

Stevie asked tentatively, “But… do you like him?”

Fernando twirled his beer bottle in his hands. He mumbled, “I’m not gay. I’ve never… with guys…”

Stevie took a step closer to him and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “If I tell you a secret, will you feel a lot more comfortable?”

Fernando’s head shot up and he stared at Stevie curiously.

The captain’s hands began to sweat and he wiped it on the side of his jeans. He didn’t come here prepared to divulge anything to Fernando. This wasn’t part of the plan. But it was a risky move that would pay huge dividends if he pulled it off.

“I’ve fooled around with guys before.” Stevie admitted in such a hushed tone, Fernando almost didn’t catch it.

“It was nothing serious,” he explained hurriedly. “It was just for fun.”

Fernando’s eyeballs were practically bulging out of their sockets.

“I’ve never told anyone, so please…”

“I’ll take it to my grave,” Fernando promised so readily, Stevie’s anxiety eased. At least if he had to tell anyone about his sex life, it was Fernando. And he was a good person. It was just too bad that he had to be a pawn at this game.

Fernando mustered a small, brave smile. “I guess I like Daniel,” he said, opening up to Stevie. He was always a sucker for strong men admitting weaknesses.

“You seem like you like him a lot.”

Fernando blushed and just drank some more.

Stevie coughed, “Have you two…?”

At first, Fernando’s brow wrinkled in confusion. Then realisation dawned on him, and he nearly choked on his beer.

“No,” he scoffed. He added, “You know I don’t believe in casual sex.”

Stevie shrugged, “But, it’s not casual sex. You like Daniel, and it’s pretty clear to me that he likes you too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. As much as I despise him, I see how different he’s acting with you,” Stevie said, sincerity thickly coating his words so that Fernando wouldn’t notice the deceit behind them.

“So, what are you saying?” Fernando asked nervously.

“Look, I think it’s admirable, what you believe in. I do,” Stevie said solemnly. “And I think Daniel also appreciates that this isn’t something he can just literally fuck around with.”

“But, you can’t hide behind this _vow of chastity_. You said you wanted to have sex only with someone you really like. You really like Daniel. And it’s unfair to you – and even more unfair to him – if you don’t show him how you really feel.”

Fernando hung on to every word. “You really think so?” He breathed.

“Yeah. Do you trust Daniel?”

Fernando bit his lip but eventually nodded.

Stevie clapped him on the back. “Just think about it.”

Fernando smiled, nervous and uncertain, but ultimately relieved he finally had someone to talk to about his dilemma.

“Thanks, Stevie. You’ve been a really great help,” he said. “I didn’t expect this.”

Stevie laughed, “I didn’t expect it either. But hey, you know I want to look out for you. I’m your captain.”

Fernando’s eyes shone with gratitude. “Thanks,” he said again.

Stevie finished off his beer, hiding the smug smile threatening to split his face into two. Sometimes, all people need is a push in the wrong direction.


	5. Crossing the line

Fernando didn’t know why he eventually turned to Stevie. But it’s not like anyone else knew of his situation, namely his inappropriate, inexplicable and immoral attraction to one Daniel Agger.

And it had gotten worse ever since their almost-kiss. Daniel kept his distance from him. He hung out with Pepe during training. He took a different route to class so he wouldn’t have to pass by Fernando’s locker. And outside of school, he spent his time with Nicklas.

That, in particular, made Fernando’s blood boil.

And more importantly, it made the desire churn even more sickeningly in his stomach.

But every time he ended up bumping into Daniel, they would both just fumble and step aside and look away, even though Fernando’s fingers tingled with the yearning to just reach out and touch the other boy.

It was frustrating. It felt like Fernando’s nerves were coiled so tightly, like a spring, and he would explode at any given moment.

That afternoon, Fernando casually jogged next to Stevie in practice. He kept his lips pursed tightly until Carra lagged behind during the laps.

“Hey,” Fernando said.

“What’s up?” Stevie asked in between huffs.

“Is it okay if I talk to you about something?” Fernando’s eyes shifted. Stevie followed his gaze and spotted Daniel on the other end of the pitch, clearly trying his best not to watch them closely.

“Go on.”

“I was hoping we could talk about it… in private.”

Stevie’s interest was piqued. “Okay.”

They waited for all their teammates to head back to the dressing room after training.

By then, the sun was beginning to set, and the sky was a mix of red and purple hues. They sat on the grass by the sidelines, watching the ball boys pack up the equipment.

“So, what’s your problem?” Stevie asked.

Fernando chewed at his bottom lip, a faraway gaze on his face. “You were right. I want Daniel.”

“This is a problem because?”

Fernando grimaced, and Stevie noticed his cheeks flushing a bright pink.

“I haven’t really kissed a guy before,” Fernando rambled, “I know Daniel has been with a lot of people, and I don’t want to be... disappointing.”

Stevie’s eyebrows shot up. He didn’t expect this at all. Fernando blushed even harder.

“I’m scared I’ll be bad at it,” he chuckled to lighten the atmosphere, but there was a self-deprecating tone to his laugh.

Stevie patted the striker’s shoulder unsurely. “You’ll be fine,” he said, but it sounded hollow. Fernando continued to stare straight ahead, frowning deeply.

It felt as if Stevie’s head was swimming. He didn’t like having to talk about homosexuality. It terrified him. It was an issue he’s had to grapple with all his life, and he was fairly successful in pushing it back into the deepest recesses of his mind.

He wasn’t gay. He wasn’t. So when Daniel had vandalised his car a couple of years back, branding him a faggot for all the world to see, that stung like anything. He’s never hated Daniel more than he did at that moment.

“Is it different, though? Does it feel different, kissing boys?” Fernando asked.

Stevie balked at the question. He’s never had the chance to come to terms with his own sexuality – he refused to. But talking to Fernando was making him confront it, and he wasn’t ready.

“Yeah, I guess,” Stevie mumbled, scratching the back of his neck.

“How is it different? Do I have to do anything different?”

Stevie groaned, belaboured. There was no right way to go about this conversation.

“Well, I suppose when we kiss girls, we’re supposed to be the dominant ones. But with you and Dan,” Stevie fidgeted hesitantly, “It seems that he’s the more aggressive of you both…”

“So, basically, you’re saying, this time, I’m the submissive bottom,” Fernando cut him off pointedly.

Stevie’s humiliated expression only made the striker laugh.

“I’m a virgin, not an idiot.”

“And here I was trying to make things PG-13.”

They both cracked up, and that helped disperse the tension a little.

Feeling more at ease, Stevie tried again. “Anyway, I suppose between you and Daniel, he’ll be taking the lead, and you’ll just have to follow.”

Fernando nodded, listening intently. “Do you have any advice on what I should do…?”

Stevie fidgeted. It’s not exactly like he was an expert in kissing other boys. In fact, he’s only ever kissed one.

He was just a sophomore then, but he remembered it clearly...

 

_A bunch of guys from the football team were drinking in The Window Bar, but Stevie was late because he was coming from his mother’s birthday dinner. By the time he got to the club, all his friends were smashed already._

_Stevie headed to the bar to order drinks, determined to catch up with his friends’ state of drunkenness. He called over the bartender to order a pint. The bartender must have been new there because Stevie’s never seen him before._

_It was usually a surly, 40-year-old Manc serving beers here. This time, though, it was a guy roughly his age. He looked like a foreigner._

_“Hi,” Stevie blurted out, and he didn’t know why._

_The bartender raised an eyebrow too, taken aback. “Hi,” he greeted back awkwardly. “Is there anything I can get for you?”_

_Now that the stranger was speaking in longer sentences, Stevie could just make out a bit of an accent. So, he was a foreigner. He knew it. He hasn’t seen a face like that in Liverpool yet. The bartender had soaring cheekbones, a classic jawline. Probably continental._

_Stevie ordered a pint. When he got his drink, the bartender nodded at him, “Seems odd that you’re here alone on a Saturday night.”_

_“Oh, no. I’m here with my friends,” Stevie answered, jutting his thumb to point at the booth where his teammates were drinking. They both turned to look, just as Carra threw up under the table and the other guys applauded boisterously._

_“Oh. Them.” The bartender smirked. “Charming.”_

_“They’re not that bad.”_

_“If they’re not that bad, why aren’t you drinking with them?”_

_Stevie’s jaw dropped. He could explain – but it was long and complicated and not really that interesting. So, he just laughed instead and let the bartender have the last say._

_“I’m Xabi, by the way,” the bartender said._

_Stevie offered his hand from across the counter, “I’m Stevie. I don’t usually see you here.”_

_“Bertie usually takes Saturdays, but he got the flu. I’m covering for him. I usually work here Fridays.”_

_“I should hang out here on Fridays then. Bertie can be a pain in the ass once he starts talking about Manchester United,” Stevie said with a roll of his eyes._

_They both grinned at each other like idiots. And it was strange, since this could be your run-of-the-mill pub talk, but it was taking a turn to the flirtatious, even without Stevie consciously intending it to be._

_There was a lull in the bar as most customers nursed their own drinks, so Xabi took a break from bartending. Stevie kept drinking his beer, and it made him looser._

_“I bet you get more tips than Bertie, huh.”_

_Xabi snickered as he wiped down the counter top. “You know it.”_

_“Girls like you better, of course.”_

_“And guys.” Xabi said with a half-shrug and a twinkle in his eye._

_Stevie almost fell off his seat at the candid admission._

_“What? Don’t you like me better than Bertie?” Xabi asked innocently._

_Stevie drank to quench his parched throat. “Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled._

_Their banter continued intermittently throughout the night. Stevie would go back to his friends, chug his beer hurriedly and then eagerly return to the bar for a refill. Xabi was swamped with customers, but whenever the Scouser came around, he made sure to serve him first._

_At 4 AM, the bar started to close down. Stevie’s friends clambered out, but he hung back._

_“Oy, Gerrard, get in here!” Carra slurred at him from inside their cab._

_“My cousin is picking me up,” Stevie answered. It was such a horrible lie – there was no way his cousin would have agreed to pick him up _anywhere_ at 4 in the morning. But Carra was smashed senseless, so he just shrugged and waved goodbye before their taxi sped away._

_Stevie stood there for a while by the doorway, feeling like an idiot. Now what? He re-entered the bar nervously._

_“Sorry, we’re closed. Come back tomorrow,” Xabi called out, busy clearing up the last of the beer bottles left on the counter._

_Stevie cleared his throat. Xabi looked up, and his eyebrows rose all the way into his hairline._

_“Oh,” he said. “You’re still here.”_

_It was clear from Stevie’s half-smile and shuffling feet that he was hesitant. But it was even clearer that he wanted this._

_“Just let me finish up,” Xabi said, washing his hands and wiping them on a dishtowel._

_Stevie didn’t understand why he stayed behind. His heart beat loudly in his chest and his palms sweated profusely. But Xabi walked up to him with an air of deliberation, and in a way, it assured him._

_“You okay?” Xabi asked, offering him one last way out of this. Stevie just nodded curtly._

_Xabi sucked him off then and there by the bar. The lights were off, the shades were shut and the counter smelled like dishwashing liquid. It was the best orgasm Stevie’s had._

_They exchanged numbers afterwards, but Stevie forbade himself from calling Xabi. He wasn’t gay. He enjoyed the blowjob, sure, but didn’t everyone?_

_By the time Friday came around, Stevie was back in the Window Bar, waiting for Xabi to finish his shift again._

 

“Stevie?” Fernando waved his hand in front of the other boy’s face.

Stevie snapped out of his daze. “Sorry about that.”

He continued, “Anyway, if you’re really unsure about kissing guys, we could try it.”

Fernando’s eyes practically bulged out of their sockets. He stared at Stevie, aghast. “Excuse me?”

Stevie shrugged. “Talking the talk is very different from walking the walk,” he stated plainly.

Fernando paled. “That’s crazy,” he murmured, shaking his head in disbelief. He squirmed and for a moment, it seemed like he was going to stand up and leave.

The Spaniard sat still again, and he glanced at Stevie unsurely. “Are you shitting me?”

“If you react like this at an opportunity to kiss a guy, then you really do need practice,” Stevie pointed out.

There was a long, uneasy silence as Fernando mulled over the idea. Out in the pitch, the team staff finished clearing up the training equipment. They waited until the last of the coaches went inside, and then they were alone.

“Well?”

“This is fucking crazy,” Fernando kept repeating.

“It’s fine if you don’t want to,” Stevie shrugged, getting to his feet.

Fernando clutched at his wrist before he could stand up completely. “Wait,” he whined.

Stevie knelt down the grass and glanced at the Spaniard expectantly.

“Okay,” Fernando said.

Stevie nodded, “Just follow my lead.”

“Okay.”

Stevie took a deep breath and leaned closer, cupping Fernando’s cheek. Fernando squeezed his eyes shut, and Stevie pressed their lips together. Fernando involuntarily shrank back, and Stevie struggled to keep him in place.

He tried to remember how Xabi did it. He must have been shell-shocked when they first kissed too. He wanted it, sure, but it was like Xabi had to slowly coax him to do it.

Stevie placed an arm around the younger boy and rubbed his back in small circles to comfort him. Once he could feel the tension melting away in the muscles, he let his hands drift to Fernando’s sides. His fingers teasingly raked across the Spaniard’s torso.

Fernando’s exhaled sharply, and Stevie smirked into their kiss.

That must have spurred Fernando on to claw back some form of control. He pushed back into the liplock, finally meeting Stevie with the same amount of intensity. And that was when it got… good.

Stevie was secretly hoping he wouldn’t like the kiss. It was one thing for him to enjoy kissing one boy – that could have been a one-off. But to enjoy kissing boys in general? Well, shit.

The excitement coursed through Stevie’s veins, and the kiss became less of a lesson and more of a liaison. Fernando’s fingers were digging into his shoulders and Stevie crept up on his hands and knees so he could move closer.

It finally registered in Stevie’s brain that they were still in school and anyone could catch them. He deepened their kiss one last time, and then pulled away.

He caught the fleeting moment when Fernando struggled to open his eyes, as if he were waking up from a deep sleep, and it made his stomach churn uneasily.

Stevie coughed and edged back, sitting back down on his heels.

“Um,” Fernando started but couldn’t continue. He busied himself with straightening out the wrinkles on his shirt.

“So, that’s that,” Stevie said, clapping his hands together

“Okay,” Fernando said. He chewed at his bottom lip – now a darker shade of red, Stevie noted – and asked, “How did I do?”

Stevie’s jaw dropped and he struggled to find an answer. He forgot that the kiss was a demonstration.

“I think you’ll be fine,” he said.

“Okay then.”

They glanced at each other uncomfortably.

“The others might be looking for us.”

Fernando nodded and stood up. Stevie waited for him to go ahead, pretending to be busy tying his shoelace. They walked back separately.

*

Fernando took a long, long shower that night. His head was muddled with thoughts. What had he just given away, letting Stevie become the first guy he kissed? But it was worth it, right? Stevie might have been the first kiss, but Daniel would be the better kiss, now that he knew how to do it.

The hot water pounded at his back. Fernando shut his eyes and let himself relax. But the memories of Stevie came flooding back. Fernando raked his fingers through his hair harshly.

That kiss was intense. There was only one way to push it out of his mind completely.

*

When Daniel’s mother told him he had a guest and he found Fernando sitting in their living room, Dan immediately thought two things. First, thank god Nicklas left early. And second, thank god he took a bath before Fernando arrived.

It was a good thing Daniel’s mother didn’t ask any awkward questions like how they became friends or why Daniel was having a second visitor that day. They trudged up to Daniel’s room in silence.

Once the door closed behind them, Fernando spoke shyly, “Can you please stop ignoring me already?”

Dan pushed his hands through his hair. And here we go with the confrontation that would just surely give him a headache. Daniel was doing the right thing by staying away from Fernando. He was the one who was acting like a martyr and testing every last shred of his resolve by keeping his distance. But of course, Fernando didn’t know that, so now, Daniel would just look like the douchebag without even trying.

Okay, the headache was starting already.

“I’m not ignoring you,” Dan huffed.

“But you and Nicklas…”

“We’re just friends,” Dan cut off with an edge of impatience.

Fernando recoiled. “Do you like him?”

Dan’s jaw dropped. “Of course not.”

The Spaniard heaved a big sigh and didn’t even bother to hide it.

“How about me?” Fernando asked quietly, looking at his sneakers. “Do you like me?”

That question was a little more difficult for Daniel because the answer was yes. Eventually, he nodded uneasily.

“I just want to make sure before I…” Fernando tapered off.

“Before you?”

Fernando took a step forward and kissed Daniel, just planted his lips on his and kissed him deeply. He was hesitant with Stevie, naturally, but it’s like all the desire pent-up in recent weeks just propelled him. He couldn’t stop even if he wanted to.

Daniel’s thoughts were one step behind. A second ago they were talking, and now Fernando was – whoa, wait. Once Dan realised what was happening, it was like his body awoke. His arms immediately wrapped around Fernando’s waist, pulling the boy flush against him.

Kissing someone was one thing. But there was something more intimate about kissing someone held against you. It was like Daniel’s body tingled where it touched Fernando, from the top of his head to the tip of his toes.

Fernando broke away, and his cheeks were bright red, his pupils were blown, and he looked delirious. Daniel must have looked even more so. He cupped Fernando’s cheeks and pulled him in for another kiss.

All those times sleeping with Nick – he was so tired of it. But Nick was the only one who understood why he needed this release. He was also the only one polite enough to ignore how Daniel was blatantly thinking of somebody else the entire time they were having sex.

Dan kissed the corner of Fernando’s mouth, his cheek, his temple, his ear and his neck. Fernando squirmed at the strange sensations.

“Dan,” he breathed out with much difficulty

The boy had unravelled already, and if there was a perfect moment to take advantage of him, it was now. Dan’s bed was just a few metres away, and Fernando was eyeing it.

“Nando,” Dan began, a lump forming in his throat.

“Yeah?”

The hopeful tone in Fernando’s voice drove Daniel to edge so that he chickened out.

Dan gripped Fernando’s hands, “We can’t do this.”

Fernando’s face fell, and it was like all the wind had been knocked out of him.

“Why not?” He asked, unable to suppress the panic in his tone. Did he do something wrong? Was he horrible at this? Didn’t Daniel just say he liked him? “I’m ready. I want to do this,” he insisted.

Daniel looked so tormented. “Are you sure?”

“Yes!” Fernando said, stomping his foot.

Daniel sighed and stepped back. “Okay. But we can’t do it now,” he said, trying to buy some time. “My parents are just down the hall. They’ll be suspicious.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Fernando admitted.

“We’ll arrange something, yeah?” Daniel said. “You should go home. It’s getting late already.” 

“Okay.”

Dan planted a soft kiss on his forehead, and Fernando sighed contentedly.

“I missed you,” Dan said honestly.

Fernando smiled. “I missed you too.”

*

There were three days left before the semester ended. Three days left for Daniel to complete the bet. And yet here he was, hiding in an empty classroom waiting for Fernando to pass down the hallway to head to training. He didn’t want to bump into him. Not yet.

He waited inside the room for another ten minutes, tapping his foot nervously. Finally, he peeked out and found that the hallway was empty, with most students already out of school and those with extracurricular activities already in their clubs. Actually, Daniel himself was running late to training because of his little detour.

Daniel scampered out of the classroom and rounded the lockers. Then, he ran straight into Pepe.

“What the fuck were you doing in a classroom?”

Dan straightened out his jacket and shirt. “I just had to grab… something I left… during fifth period,” he stammered.

“This is the freshman wing, why would you be in a freshman classroom?” Pepe asked pointedly.

Dan opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish.

“Were you hiding in that classroom? Because Fernando was just passing by earlier and he was asking if I saw you.”

Dan blushed, and before he could defend his innocence, Pepe had already clapped his hand over his mouth, “Oh, god, you _were_ hiding. Why the fuck are you hiding?!”

The defender groaned and just shrugged helplessly.

“Look, I don’t understand your tactic at all. But I just want to remind you that you only have three days until the semester ends, and I’m collecting my money.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, okay?” Dan snapped at him.

Pepe held his hands up, “I’m just reminding you, man.” He eyed the younger boy carefully, and something told Daniel that Pepe could read just what was going on. “Get your act together.”

Dan frowned. That was easier said than done.

*

Fernando stared at his body in the mirror. He knew he had a good body. He’s checked. Others have checked too. That’s what shower rooms were for.

But now he just felt so… grotesque. Did people really feel this self-conscious when they had to sleep with someone? He rued over every freckle on his body – they were scattered so thoughtlessly on his skin. And fuck it, that burger he had for lunch was not a good idea. What was this flab in his stomach? It was all this stupid American food he’s been force-fed since he moved here. All that grease served between buns with a siding of fries. Jesus Christ. Why wasn’t he doing more crunches in training? He spun around and craned his neck so he could see his backside in the mirror. Fuck, his ass was huge. Although, that would be a good thing for Daniel, right?

The doorbell rang, and Fernando cursed. He threw on his favourite shirt and his worn-in shorts. He wanted to feel comfortable, since his heart was running a mile a minute, and he felt like he was going to bail any second.

He loved kissing Daniel, sure. Fuck, kissing him was the most delicious thing Fernando’s ever done. He could just make out with him all day, every day.

But Daniel asked if he could drop by his place, and obviously that meant doing something more than just making out. Fernando would have preferred to have more time to mull this over, but Daniel asked him pointedly if they could hang out _today_. And Fernando’s parents were both coming from dinner meetings tonight, so they would have more time than usual. Everything was falling into place and Fernando just had to get on with it.

Fernando let Daniel in and they head to his bedroom in silence.

Once they were alone, the first thing Daniel said was: “Can I kiss you?”

He said it so plainly. And fuck if that didn’t send all of Fernando’s cares out the window like a lovesick teenager.

Fernando didn’t know how long they kissed. All he knew was that he couldn’t stop and he couldn’t breathe, and it was dizzying, but he was so addicted.

When they pulled apart, Fernando was so sure he was grinning like a smug idiot. Daniel, meanwhile, had an unreadable expression on his face.

He stared at Fernando intently. Tucking a stray lock of blond hair behind Fernando’s ear, he asked, “Can I kiss you again?”

The Spaniard blushed and nodded, leaning closer to meet Dan’s lips once more. But Dan shook his head and smiled wryly.

“Not there.”

Daniel went down on his knees, and Fernando’s brain shut down instantly. So that’s what it felt like, having a mouth around your cock. Hot and wet and Fernando couldn’t stop writhing into it. Daniel had no concept of taking it slow, he just sucked on it like he was trying to coax out the cum from Fernando as fast as he could.

Fernando stuffed his fist inside his mouth to keep himself from making loud noises. But fuck if he could hold it all in.

“I’m gonna come,” he was panting in panic. It wasn’t even past ten minutes since they started, it was embarrassing.

Daniel pulled away and started jacking him off until he hit his peak.

Fernando collapsed on his bed with his shorts and underwear still wrapped around his ankles. His legs were trembling.

Daniel crawled over him and gave him a kiss. Fernando’s lips were trembling too.

“That doesn’t count,” Daniel said, and it sounded more like he was talking to himself than to Fernando.

It didn’t take long for Dan to eventually commandeer Fernando to lie on his stomach. He started pushing a finger against the Spaniard’s entrance.

It was a strange new feeling for Fernando. But Dan’s index finger was slender and it entered him slowly, so he didn’t really mind. Soon, though, it was two fingers slicing inside him, and it started feeling uncomfortable.

By the time Daniel started rubbing his hard-on against his ass, Fernando’s blood had gone cold with dread. The engorged head pressed against his pucker, and all Fernando could think was there was no way that was going to fit in him.

Daniel bit his lip. He wouldn’t be able to penetrate Fernando if he pushed in slowly, that was for sure. It wasn’t physically possible. Fernando was as tight as anything, and he was… he was harder than he’s ever been. He’s forgotten what it was like, getting to fuck someone you really wanted for the first time.

“Sorry,” he whispered against Fernando’s ear, just before he sharply thrust his hips forward. The head of his cock popped into Fernando. He moaned loudly, but it was drowned out by Fernando’s pained scream.

“We can’t make too much noise, babe. Your parents might come home any time,” Dan murmured, combing his fingers through Fernando’s sweaty hair to calm him down.

Fernando replied through gritted teeth: “Fucking hell, Dan, it hurts like bloody fuck.” Dan’s never heard Fernando swear that much.

“If you relax, it will feel better,” Dan assured, planting kisses across Fernando’s back.

After a few tense moments, Daniel tried again, pushing in gently this time, centimetre by centimetre. He could see Fernando wincing underneath him, even as he braced himself for every move.

It was a good thing Fernando was on all fours. He didn’t want Daniel to see his face because by god, he was suffering. It felt like he was being torn apart from inside. He wondered when it would start to feel good.

He focused on the sensation: the thick, slicing action at his core. He couldn’t figure out where the pleasure was supposed to come from. He wriggled around, tried to find an angle, even pushed back against Daniel’s movements. But that only made his body scream in even more pain, so Fernando just lay still and gave up, panting exhaustedly into his pillows.

He just took each thrust as it came, counting them and hoping that each one would be the last. Every time Daniel slammed into him, he let out an involuntary whimper. He hoped, at least, that the whimpers sounded like he was having fun.

Daniel, on the other hand, was not fooled. The pain was clearly etched on Fernando’s delicate features. His knuckles were turning white from gripping the sheets tightly. His groans were strangled. But there was no way this first time wouldn’t be painful, and they would just have to ride it out.

Dan briefly wondered whether he should ask Fernando if he was okay and if he wanted to continue with this. But he was scared the answer would be no. He didn’t think he could stop this midway. His body wouldn’t let him. What’s more, there was no way he could rack up the courage again to get Fernando to have sex with him. The bet was ending in a couple of days.

Dan shook his head violently, as if he could physically get those damned thoughts out of his mind.

He kept his mind on the sex. Only the sex, and nothing else. That was all this was supposed to be anyway. He grabbed Fernando’s pert ass, and he groaned at the sight of the mounds of flesh in his hands. This fuck was better than he could have imagined – and Daniel had a pretty wild imagination.

Fernando shuddered underneath Daniel. He sounded so feral, and that turned him on. Fernando craned his neck, and Dan met him in a sloppy kiss.

“I’m near,” Dan whispered, and Fernando nodded.

“Go,” he replied.

Dan took that as permission to get himself off. He’d been doing his best not to get carried away, struggling to keep his hips rolling in a slow, gentle motion to ease the pain for Fernando.

He helped Fernando on his back and wrapped the striker’s long legs around his waist. Bending over him, he started fucking the boy erratically, relishing the unpredictable friction on his cock. Fernando gripped the headboard as Daniel drove into him sharply.

“Fuck,” Daniel gasped, and he could feel the orgasm building at his centre. He buried his face into Fernando’s neck to muffle his stifled groan as he came. It felt like he was just emptying his load for a full minute, and he rode the sensation until the very end.

Fernando touched himself, and Daniel wrapped his hand around Fernando’s hand to help him hit his climax as well. He jacked off to the image of Daniel coming utterly undone because of him.

Afterwards, they just lay in bed, collapsed and exhausted, limbs splayed gracelessly. The silence in the room was merely punctuated by their deep, ragged breaths.

Fernando used the corner of the bed sheet to wipe the sweat from his brow and his chest. With much effort, he turned his head to the side to glance at Dan. The defender was staring at the ceiling wordlessly, his mind still in a daze.

Fernando smiled contentedly to himself. He was sore and ravaged and probably going to call in sick for training tomorrow. But fuck if this wasn’t the best sex he could have possibly had.

Daniel could feel the Spaniard looking at him, and it prickled at his skin. He kept his eyes trained on the ceiling so he wouldn’t have to meet Fernando’s gaze. His body thrummed with pleasure just a while ago, but now the guilt started to set in. It spread through him rapidly, weighing down on his chest until he couldn’t breathe.

That was it: the thousand-dollar fuck. It was glorious and it was wild, satiating and yet stirring a lustful hunger in him all over again. It made him feel awake and alive and… and positively disgusting.

That was, hands down, the worst sex of his life.


	6. Enter, Stevie

Daniel surveyed the locker room for a long time. He wasn’t sure whether Fernando was serious when he told him he was skipping training, but he figured the morning after wasn’t a very pleasant experience for the striker.

Once he was absolutely certain that Fernando wasn’t around, Daniel approached Pepe. The goalkeeper was whistling as he dug out his gloves from his gym bag.

“Pepe,” Dan began, eyes still shifting around the dressing room, paranoid.

“What’s up?”

Dan pursed his lips then turned to him. “I did it.”

Pepe’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Daniel sighed. He stepped closer to Pepe and said, “I won the bet.” He spoke in hushed tones, but the triumphant edge to his words couldn’t be missed.

Pepe jerked so violently, he almost hit his head on his locker door. “What?” he exclaimed. “No way.”

Dan shrugged. Though there was still an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, he let himself enjoy the brief moment of victory first. “Why do you think your friend’s not training today?” He said with a twisted smile.

“You naughty bastard,” Pepe started guffawing. “Fuck, I can’t believe you actually did it.” He clapped Daniel on the back, “Damn, down to the wire, huh? I was starting to think you were giving up!”

Dan scoffed. “You told me I didn’t know how to take it slow. I did. I spent the entire semester getting to know him, earning his trust, saying sweet nothings,” he ticked them off with his fingers.

“Yeah, for a moment there I thought you and Fernando were actually starting, like, a real relationship.”

Dan frowned and the churning in his stomach got more violent. “I had to get him to trust me, didn’t I?” He snapped at Pepe.

“Chill,” the goalkeeper said. “If anything, I actually have to congratulate you for a believable performance. You almost had me fooled right there.”

Daniel didn’t like where this conversation was going, so he abruptly changed the topic. He held out his hand in front of Pepe and demanded, “Pay up.”

Pepe sighed and fished out his wallet from the pocket of his discarded jeans. He plucked out ten crisp hundred-dollar bills and pushed them into Daniel’s palm.

“Happy?”

The money felt so clean and new under his fingers, but he felt dirty just touching it. He rushed to his locker with the bills rolled tightly in his hand.

“Well, well, well. Looks like big winnings tonight, huh, Agger?”

Daniel felt his blood run cold. He hurriedly stuffed the cash in his wallet and threw it inside his locker.

“What did you have to do to earn it?’ Stevie asked exactingly.

Dan turned around slowly, trying to wipe all guilt from his face. He stared back at the Scouser head-on, replying coolly, “Why don’t you mind your own business?”

Stevie smirked smugly, and the dread was paralysing Daniel now.

“I was just asking a simple question,” Stevie said, holding his hands up to display his innocence. “If you don’t want to answer, maybe I can just ask Fernando if he knows anything about this…”

At that split-second, Daniel thought of lunging at Stevie. It had been a long time coming. Years. He hasn’t forgotten that time Stevie beat him up in this very same locker room after Dan vandalised his car. He’s been waiting for a chance to return the favour. He rolled his hands into fists and rocked on his feet.

“You wouldn’t want to do that,” Stevie snickered, but he squared his shoulders nonetheless, prepared to take on the defender.

Dan frowned. He knew Stevie was right. He had something on Daniel. He knew about the bet. Right now, he wasn’t in the best position to pick a fight.

Dan backed down and Stevie smiled. “We should talk,” he said.

They trained together that afternoon. They were such an odd couple, isolated from the group, speaking out of the corners of their mouths, tense around each other.

“How did you find out?”

“I have my sources.”

“What do you want?”

Stevie smiled steely. Clearly, there was going to be no beating around the bush in this conversation. He could do that too.

“I want you to stay away from Fernando.”

Dan scoffed. “What the fuck?” He still couldn’t comprehend the gravity of Stevie’s order, so he could afford to be nonchalant.

“And I want you to make sure he stays away from you,” Stevie went on. “I don’t care if you dump him, disappear on him or fuck another guy in front of him. Just do it good and do it now. No explanations.”

Daniel let out a short, disbelieving bark of laughter. But, he couldn’t get a word out.

The coach blew his whistle and the team moved to the touchline to start their jog around the pitch. Dan let himself be led by the group. All around him, his teammates chattered to themselves excitedly. His mind, though, was elsewhere. The laps did well to clear his head.

The team was given a fifteen-minute break before the warmdown started. Stevie was surrounded by Carra and the other seniors, but it was clear he was distracted too. Daniel caught his eye easily, as if the captain was expecting Dan to seek him out. Dan nodded discreetly, and Stevie excused himself from his friends.

“Well?”

Daniel paced back and forth along the sidelines. “If I don’t do as you say?”

“I tell Fernando about your little game.”

“You do realise I could just tell him myself, right?” Dan countered.

Stevie laughed humourlessly. “Agger, I don’t give a flying fuck if you tell him. The point is, Fernando knows the truth about your bet. I assure you, he won’t take it lightly.”

“I doubt you have the courage or the decency to come clean anyway,” he added with a sneer.

“Why are you even doing this?” Dan demanded.

Stevie’s face was stony. “I’m Fernando’s friend and I’m his captain. I warned him before about you, and he didn’t listen to me. But I’m not going to let that happen again. I don’t want you anywhere near him, you sick fuck.”

Dan’s hackles rose. They were speaking in hushed tones, but Daniel’s voice rose angrily. “Oh, fuck you on your high horse. This isn’t about Fernando. This is about you. You despise me. And the only reason why you’re doing this is because you know this isn’t just a bet to me anymore.”

Stevie was literally taken aback. The shock unsteadied him and he fell back a few steps, trying to regain his footing. He had his suspicion before, sure. But he didn’t expect Daniel to admit it.

Daniel Agger, falling in love?

The defender’s face was crumpled now. He wasn’t even angry anymore. Only sad and even desperate. Stevie almost felt bad.

But he thought back on the day Daniel branded him a faggot. How people talked in hushed whispers whenever he passed, and how terrified he was when his father almost heard about the rumour.

He wasn’t the same, since then. He was always second-guessing himself now. And in times when he was sure of himself, he still had to look over his shoulder to see if other people were second-guessing him. He was always thinking: Is this gay? This looks gay. People will think I’m gay. I’m not gay.

No, Stevie didn’t feel bad for Daniel at all. In fact, he was feeling mighty proud.

“I can’t believe you’ve sunk this low,” Daniel seethed.

Stevie scoffed. “Oh, Daniel, you brought this upon yourself when you took that bet. If you really cared for Fernando as you claim, you wouldn’t have pushed through with it, but you did. You had this coming. You just can’t take that I’m the one who’s making you pay for it.”

Daniel shut his mouth and glared at Stevie sullenly. Stevie took that as acquiescence, no matter how half-hearted. He clapped the younger boy on the back. “You know what to do.”

*

“Hey, slow down!” Pepe scolded as Daniel almost bundled into him, hurrying out of the showers.

Daniel glanced at him distractedly, and when he saw that it was the Spaniard, his gaze darkened. “You,” he growled.

“What?”

“We have to talk. I have to go now, but when I see you again, I swear to god, I’m going to kill you.”

“Whoa, wait, wait, wait, what is going on?” Pepe demanded, but Daniel was already stalking back to the changing rooms.

Daniel threw his dirty clothes in his duffel bag, stuffing in his muddy boots after, not caring that they stained the rest of his things. He didn’t even bother drying up properly. His t-shirt stuck to his damp back and his hair dripped all over his face.

But he had no time to waste. Fernando called in sick today, so he was probably at home. If Dan hurried, maybe he could get to him ahead of Stevie. He would confess everything. That was the only way. He would confess, and then everything would be fixed.

He rushed out of the locker room, banging the door behind him.

“What the fuck is up with him?” Pepe asked out loud.

Stevie walked up to him, shaking his head. “Fuck it. I think he’s going to tell Fernando.”

“Tell Fernando…?”

Stevie raised his eyebrow at Pepe and the goalkeeper gasped. Daniel couldn’t tell Fernando about the bet. If Fernando found out that Pepe put Dan up to it…

Pepe scampered after Daniel, with Stevie hot on their heels.

“Agger!” Pepe hollered and his voice echoed in the hallways.

Confused, Daniel turned around, and when he saw Pepe and Stevie, his eyes widened. He broke into a run, but Daniel was never really the fastest one in the squad. Pepe always finished laps ahead of him, and Stevie, of course, easily overtook both of them.

Pepe grabbed Dan by the back of his shirt, and Stevie caught him by the arms and took great pleasure in pushing him roughly against the lockers.

“What the fuck are you planning to do?” Pepe yelled.

“What the fuck do you think I’m going to do? I’m going to tell Fernando about that goddamn bet before Stevie does!” Dan shouted back.

Stevie held up his hands. “I’m not going to tell him. I told you I wouldn’t if you stayed away from him.”

Pepe stared at Dan, horrified, “And that sounds like a perfectly good deal!”

“Of course you would side with him. I can’t believe you told Stevie about the bet!” Dan spat.

Pepe turned red. “I didn’t tell him anything!”

Dan turned to Stevie and the Scouser just shrugged, refusing to confirm or deny.

“I never told anyone about it,” Pepe swore. “You’re the one who told your friends. Maybe they blabbed.”

Dan pushed the goalkeeper away. “I’m not taking the fall for you. You’re going down with me.”

“Nobody has to take the fall if you don’t tell Fernando anything!”

“Yeah, you get off scot-free, and I…” Dan trailed off. Stevie’s lips twisted into a wry smile.

“Yeah, and you don’t get to see Fernando. Big fucking deal,” Pepe shugged.

Dan’s frown was deep.

“Hold on – you said… You said you were only getting close to him because you wanted him to trust you.”

The defender averted his gaze guiltily.

“Fucking hell, Daniel!” Pepe yelled.

The sound of the school doors swinging open noisily on its hinges made them all jump. Fernando walked in, all smiles. Pepe, Dan and Stevie all stepped away from each other discreetly.

“Hi, guys!” He greeted cheerfully. He approached Dan and wrapped an arm around his waist. The defender stood there stiffly, but he leaned down to let Fernando kiss his cheek.

Stevie and Pepe glanced at each other uneasily.

Fernando laughed sheepishly, “I haven’t really told you guys yet, but Daniel and I…”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Pepe hurriedly assured.

“Yeah, we understand. We figured,” Stevie joked.

They both looked over at Dan. The defender was pale and sweating. He turned to Fernando, “What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting up in Starbucks.”

“Oh, I just thought I’d surprise you,” the Spaniard grinned.

It was amazing how Fernando was utterly oblivious to the suffocating tension in the group. But then again, Fernando looked like he was on cloud nine, and you couldn’t bring him down if you tried. There was a glow about him.

“Should we go ahead? I’m starving,” he said, tugging at Dan’s sleeve.

Dan fidgeted. “Yeah, uh, about that,” he began. He could feel Stevie and Pepe watching him closely.

He took a deep breath, rehearsing the words in his mind. They all started lamely: “We need to talk,” or “You wanna know something funny?” He thought maybe he could joke about it so it didn’t sound as bad.

The spiels all ended just as badly too, like, “I didn’t know you then,” and “I didn’t think I’d fall for you,” and, shit, was he really going to admit that he had fallen for Fernando?

He couldn’t do this.

“Yes?” Fernando prodded, still smiling. Daniel wished he would at least stop smiling.

“I can’t…” Dan stammered, “It turns out I can’t go out today. My dad called and his car broke down. I gotta go home so he can use my car.”

“Oh. That’s too bad,” Fernando’s smile faltered a little, but he still gazed at Dan with bright, understanding, expectant eyes. “Call me later when you get home, though, so we can reschedule?”

“Yeah, of course,” Dan said, although he knew he wasn’t going to. The thought of Fernando waiting up for him was crushing.

Stevie took a step closer to them, interrupting, “Well, since Dan’s busy, I can join you for coffee, Nando. I’m hungry too.”

“Great.” Fernando looked at Dan uncertainly, “Is that okay?”

Dan lifted his gaze to Stevie and he swore to god, if only looks could kill. It was one thing for Stevie to tell him to stay away from Fernando. It was another for him to snatch him away at the slightest chance.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” he said gruffly.

Fernando smiled meaningfully, “Don’t worry about us.” He wrapped his arms around Dan’s neck, and for a brief second, it was like things were perfectly fine. “I’ll see you tomorrow in class, okay?”

Dan leaned his forehead against Fernando’s and smiled sadly. “Okay,” he said. He gripped the boy’s hips and pulled him close for a deep, possessive kiss. He couldn’t believe it was their last.

Behind them, Stevie bristled.

When they broke apart, Fernando was flushed and beaming and that broke Dan’s heart even more.

“Come on,” Stevie said coldly, tugging at Fernando’s arm. Flashing one last smile at Dan, Fernando turned around to leave.

Once the school doors closed behind Fernando and Stevie, Dan felt himself deflating. Like all the energy had been sapped out of him. He leaned back against the lockers and slipped to the floor.

Pepe watched him and shook his head. He helped hoist the defender back to his feet. “It’s for the best,” he said.

Dan didn’t know how he made it to his car later, but he probably walked around the school in a stupor. He dug inside his bag for his car keys, and he found a thick wad of money instead. $1,000. His prize winnings. Funny, he forgot he won the bet – it didn’t feel like much of a victory.

*

Fernando was like a man possessed. The clock ticked 8:00 and he dove for his Blackberry. His fingers trembled nervously as he punched in Daniel’s name. It was well-rehearsed now. He could have just dialled Daniel’s number straight since he knew it by heart already.

The call connected and it started ringing. Fernando held his breath and kept his fingers crossed and he sent a silent prayer above. Please, please, please, answer the phone, Dan. Please. Just pick up the phone.

The call ended and the automated message began. “This number is unattended,” the voice said.

Fernando let his mobile slip from his hands, and he stared at his bedroom wall, dazed.

Daniel never called him the other night. And he didn’t call or text any night after that, even if Fernando kept trying to contact him incessantly.

When they got to school, Daniel sat in a different seat in their classes, farther away from him. He was out the door before Fernando could approach him. And during lunch, he hung out with his other friends, and they didn’t stay in the cafeteria. In training, Daniel stayed beside the coaches so Fernando couldn’t come up to him to talk. By the time Fernando finished showering, Daniel had already left.

It was clear as day and plain to see. Daniel was ignoring him.

But that couldn’t be.

Just last week, they were together, Fernando thought stubbornly to himself. Daniel told him he liked him and that he wanted him and that he missed him when they were fighting. Dan kissed him like he’s never been kissed before until Fernando was surrendering his virginity up to him and begging him to take it.

Dan said it was good. He looked like he enjoyed it.

So, he couldn’t be ignoring Fernando. This must all just be a misunderstanding.

Fernando’s breathing grew shallow as the realization churned in his gut and the denial right after it.

He grabbed his Blackberry. It was 8:10 PM. He couldn’t call Daniel yet – his rule was that he would only call him once every hour. He didn’t want to seem desperate.

But his call registry showed that he’d been calling Daniel every waking hour the past couple of days. His text messages were even worse. Cloying and pleading and begging for attention with no more shred of dignity left.

Fernando bit his bottom lip before it could tremble. He steeled himself and punched in Daniel’s number again. To hell with desperation. Clearly, he had nothing else to lose.

*

Daniel’s mobile buzzed in his jeans pocket insistently. His fingers itched to pick up the call. But, he stared straight ahead, jaw set, teeth gritted together, determined to wait for the ringing end.

It was difficult to ignore one call. But to have to ignore a call consecutive times, more than he could count? It made the bile rise in his throat and it made him want to wretch.

He rapped the crisp, $20 dollar bill on the counter top of the bar to get the waiter’s attention.

“Jack. On the rocks. Pronto,” he ordered too brusquely.

He waited until he was served his drink before he checked his mobile.

It was Fernando, naturally.

Daniel switched off his phone and pocketed it. He took his glass and headed to the dance floor. There was just a handful people there, mingling. But that would do.

He spotted a boy who looked just a little bit younger than him. He had a round, baby face and a mop of brown curls. He swayed self-consciously to the beat while he sipped on his beer. And his gaze flickered all over the place as he eagerly watched other people and hoped that they were watching him too.

He wasn’t really Daniel’s type – he didn’t have any type at all, these past days. But he looked easy, and Dan just needed a distraction.

Daniel walked up to the boy smoothly and held up his glass for a toast. The boy melted in front of him and giddily clinked his beer bottle against Dan’s glass.

“I haven’t seen you around here before,” Dan leaned close so he could be heard over the music.

The boy laughed – he had a nice, big laugh that rang above the loud bass beats. He said something in response, but Daniel didn’t catch it. Or he had forgotten to pay attention. Nevertheless, he nodded and pretended to be interested.

The boy was named Mike. He was a year younger than Daniel, and he went to a private school on the other side of town.

Dan introduced himself after. And then, there was an awkward moment of silence that threatened to unravel the moment. Daniel ran out of things to say, the spiels and pick-up lines that had come so naturally before just died in his throat. Mike stared at him expectantly, and the trance started to waver in his eyes.

Dan took a long swig of his scotch and shook his head to get the fuzziness out of his brain.

“Sorry, I just got distracted there. You’re really cute,” Dan laid on the praise thick. He smiled his most debonair smile and reached out to tug playfully at a wayward curl on Mike’s forehead.

The younger buy blushed deeply, and Daniel knew he had him in the palm of his hand.

He panicked for a while there – he didn’t expect to be this rusty. But then again, all semester, he had devoted all his time and effort to wooing Fernando. And look where that got him. Fuck Pepe and fuck the whole you-don’t-know-how-to-take-it-slow bullshit he sold him.

*

Daniel was able to parallel park by the sidewalk in front of their apartment with a deftness that didn’t surprise him. He had three rounds of straight scotch, but he was still so glaringly, miserably, helplessly sober.

Meanwhile, the boy he picked up in the club – Mike, he remembered the name – was already on the wrong side of tipsy. He had gabbed all throughout the drive home and giggled at all his own quips. He didn’t even notice that Daniel was quiet the entire time.

Dan climbed out of the car, fully expecting Mike to do the same. When he turned around, the boy was still in his seat, struggling with his seatbelt and laughing uncontrollably. Did he think this was cute? Dan wanted to gag.

Sighing, Daniel walked over to the passenger side of the car. He’s already gone so far as to bring the boy to his home. He might as well go all the way.

He bent down and undid Mike’s seatbelt, then looping his arms under Mike’s armpits, hoisted the boy to his feet. Jesus H. Christ, it was past midnight. He shouldn’t have to struggle so much at this hour.

This was why he didn’t date younger boys. They couldn’t hold their alcohol. Dan had a nagging feeling Mike would fall asleep before they got anywhere past second base.

“Come on,” Dan urged as Mike stumbled along beside him inside the apartment building. “We can go to my room. My parents are asleep. We just have to be quiet.”

“Mmm, sounds good,” Mike purred. He wrapped his arms around Daniel’s waist, pressed in close and placed a long, fervent kiss on Dan’s neck, right at the pulsepoint. Dan laughed at the ticklish sensation, but it was anchored by a deep, lustful tone.

Mike lapped at his neck for a good five minutes or so, and Daniel’s stress eased away. This was also why he dated younger boys, he remembered. They were so eager to please.

“Let’s go up now before I do you right here,” Dan said, nipping at Mike’s ear then turning on his heel.

He stopped in his tracks when he saw Fernando standing by the stairwell. He looked completely devastated.

“Fernando…” Daniel felt the name fall from his lips helplessly.

Fernando stared at Mike. Eyeing him from head to toe with disdain. Mike, of course, just grinned back at him like a fool.

Then, Fernando turned to Daniel. His eyes were wide and unblinking. His forehead was furrowed. The disbelief was etched hard on his face.

Daniel didn’t dare to think how long he waited for him to come home.

Just tell him the truth. The words rang inside his head but he couldn’t say them out loud, in the same way that he could come up with no respectable way to apologize to Fernando about the bet. He’d been agonizing about the confession, day in and day out, and it only got worse and worse with every time Fernando called him on the phone or left a message in his inbox.

The sad truth was, Stevie was right: he didn’t have the guts to come clean. He’d rather be the ass who moved on from a one night stand rather than the low, cheap and lying bastard who tricked a guy into sleeping with him as part of a bet.

Mike tapped his foot impatiently now. He wrapped his hand around Daniel’s arm to coax him to get moving again. Fernando’s eyes blazed angrily at their contact.

Dan hastily disentangled himself from the boy. “You weren’t supposed to be here,” he tried to justify.

Fernando recoiled, like he’d been slapped. He had to take in a shaky breath to calm himself. He squared his shoulders and stood up straight, as if he could physically pick himself up.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be bothering you again,” he spoke tightly.

Fernando pushed past the two. Before Daniel could blink, he was out the door.


	7. But I'm here in my mould

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Non-consent.

“I don’t understand it at all. How could things have changed so drastically in the space of a few days? What happened?” Fernando paced the room back and forth, his arms waving wildly in the air with every question he threw out.

“He got to sleep with me once, and that’s it? That’s all there is to it? It’s literally wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am?” Fernando exclaimed. He stopped walking around and punched Pepe’s shoulder out of anger. 

The goalkeeper winced and rubbed the spot Fernando had hit. “I don’t know, Nando. Maybe Dan’s going through something,” he reasoned out patiently, even though they’ve gone through this spiel before.

“The only thing he’s going through is a line of boys eager to go to bed with him.”

Pepe admitted grudgingly, “I suppose Daniel does have a bit of a reputation.” He didn’t like having to throw the defender under the bus, but he had to be on Fernando’s side right now, or else his friend would get suspicious.

Fernando tugged at his hair. “I’m one of those boys now.”

Pepe squirmed in his seat and didn’t reply. Fernando dismissed it, assuming the goalkeeper preferred not to think about his teammates’ sex lives. He plopped down on the couch next to him and crossed his arms over his chest, pouting away.

“Daniel’s probably having a hard time too,” Pepe eventually said, though he knew it fell on deaf ears. But he was telling the truth.

Daniel had fallen off the radar these past days, and no one heard from him. Pepe would be relieved if all the boy did was fuck strangers from bars. The defender tended to fall into a deep, dark place when he went through a difficult time.

“All the warnings signs were there. I can’t believe I could have been so stupid!” Fernando continued ranting. He rolled his hands into fists and banged them on the coffee table, making Pepe jump.

He’s never felt so rejected and humiliated in his entire life. And he wished he could at least see Daniel so he could lash out at him. At least then, he’d have an outlet. But the semester had just ended and school was out. All he could do was stew in anger alone, which made it feel even worse.

Pepe clapped his back, and Fernando snapped out of his funk briefly. It was a good thing the keeper was helping him out the past few days.

“Maybe Daniel has a good explanation for all of this,” Pepe murmured, a faraway look on his face.

Fernando scoffed, but he still dared to ask: “You really believe that?”

Pepe’s lips were pursed tightly as he nodded. “I hope he does.”

*

Dan almost leapt at his mobile when it started ringing.

Just a few days ago, he was desperately trying to ignore Fernando’s calls and texts, but now that they’ve stopped, it was like he couldn’t take his eyes off his phone for a second in case he missed anything.

It wasn’t Fernando calling this time, though, to Dan’s disappointment. It was Pepe.

What did that bastard want now?

Dan picked up the phone and barked, “What?!”

“Hey, finally, I’ve gotten through to you.”

“I have no idea why I answered this call, but I’m regretting it already. Goodbye.”

“Daniel, wait!” Pepe urged. He actually sounded sincere, and that was the only thing that stopped Dan from hanging up.

“How are you doing?” Pepe asked when he didn’t hear a dial tone at the other end of the line.

Daniel snapped. “Fucking ecstatic, thanks for asking.”

“I saw Fernando earlier.”

That shut Daniel right up. He took in a shaky breath to steady himself. “How is he?”

“Fucking ecstatic too.”

Daniel snickered. “Does he hate me?” He asked quietly.

“Nah.”

“Huh.”

“Okay, yeah.”

Dan snickered again, but it was rueful. “Thought so.”

“He’s just at a loss, you know?”

“I can imagine. One minute it was there, and then it was gone.”

Pepe groaned and pointed out, “In the first place, you weren’t supposed to fall in love with him, dammit.”

“Fuck it, I know, Pepe! I know! I made a big mistake and I wish I could take it back, but I can’t,” Daniel answered bitterly.

They were quiet for a long time, and they just listened to the static until it felt okay to talk again.

“When do you plan to tell him the truth?” Pepe asked.

Dan spat, “You’re the one who told me not to, Jesus Christ.”

“I know, I know,” Pepe answered hurriedly before Daniel lost his temper again. “What I’m saying is,” he exhaled slowly, “…You should.”

“What, you’re letting me?”

Pepe huffed. He didn’t sound happy, but he did sound resolute. “Yeah.”

Dan let out a short, relieved laugh. “Wow. Shit. Thanks,” he babbled.

“When I first found out that you and Fernando liked each other, I couldn’t believe it. Now, I’m wondering why I didn’t figure it out sooner.”

Dan pinched sharply at the bridge of his nose. A migraine was pressing against all sides of his skull, it felt like it would burst.

“God, Pepe, I don’t think I can tell him.”

“Come on, man, of course you can.”

“Honestly, even if you didn’t given me the go signal, I would have told Fernando about the bet. If I could. But I can’t.” Daniel explained haltingly like this was the first time he was admitting this to himself.

“…Do you want me to tell him?” Pepe offered reluctantly.

“No, no. Fernando would hate me even more.”

“Well, you might as well just get it over and done with. Whichever way you go about it, it won’t be pretty,” the keeper said. His accent was still thick despite all his years in New York, and it reminded Dan of the way Fernando talked.

“It will all work out in the end,” Pepe added.

Dan looked out his bedroom window as he pondered his options. “I guess so,” he murmured.

“And don’t worry, I can just tell Fernando that I started the bet. You know, maybe I said I could bed him easily, and you defended him saying he would never agree, he’s not like that, whatever. And I was confident enough that I put a wager on it.”

Pepe was the one protesting now, but the defender cut him off. “Look, regardless what version of the story I tell, Fernando won’t hate me any less. There’s no point in making you as miserable as me.”

It took some time but Pepe eventually relented and honestly, he sounded relieved. “Thanks, Dan. And I’m sorry about this,” he said. “I owe you big time.”

Dan snorted. “Of course you do. And I plan to use that favour well – I’ll need your help once I have to start grovelling for forgiveness.”

*

“Hey, Pepe,” Stevie pulled the goalkeeper aside. “Where’s Fernando? I haven’t seen him in a while.” Most boys from the football team were in Guido’s for pizza that afternoon.

Pepe put down his soda on the table to make sure he didn’t give in to the urge to douse Stevie. “Where do you think he is? He isn’t feeling very sociable these days, in case you’ve forgotten,” Pepe answered sarcastically.

Stevie raised his eyebrow and appraised the Spaniard. “What’s up your ass?”

“It’s not fun having to deal with your little games, Stevie,” Pepe snapped.

This was the first time he’s openly argued with Stevie – all these years, he’s known Stevie could be an ass, but it was never directed at him, so he didn’t really care. It felt a tad liberating answering back to him now.

Stevie scoffed. “Oh, _my_ little games? Please. The way you and Daniel are going about pretending you two are victims is just _rich_.”

Pepe bristled but he didn’t have anything to respond to that.

“Look, this is all going to blow over soon enough. You’re stressed, I get it,” Stevie said. “You should let loose in Carra’s party tomorrow night. You know they’re always eventful.”

Pepe sighed and shrugged. “Yeah, I’ll probably go.”

“And bring Fernando with you.”

The keeper shook his head. “No can do. If you want Fernando to show up at the party, convince him yourself. I’ve tried to talk some sense into him but he doesn’t listen.”

*

Fernando felt strange standing in front of Stevie in his pyjamas, his hair sticking out everywhere and his skin sticky with sweat and grime. He hasn’t taken a bath since last night, he remembered. He took a step back to put more distance between him and Stevie and self-consciously patted down his hair.

“Hi,” Fernando greeted awkwardly.

“Your mom let me in,” Stevie said by way of explanation.

Right. Of course she did.

Fernando’s mom usually kept Daniel in the living room and asked Fernando to come down and get him. Fernando’s mom clearly distrusted Daniel, with his shaved head and his tattoos and his lopsided smirk – no way was she letting Daniel up into their house where he could loot them.

But Stevie was _the_ captain of the school’s famed football team. Even Fernando’s parents who had just moved to New York knew all about him – he was in all the school newsletters and everything. With his collared shirts and his broad shoulders and the reputation that preceded him, Fernando’s mom probably waved him in.

“I told you, I’m not going to the party tonight,” Fernando said, still not letting Stevie in his bedroom. It was a pigsty in there. He hadn’t made the bed in the last two days, and the pile of fresh laundry on his desk had toppled over to his chair. His video games were all out too, and the wires snaked across the carpet.

“Do you have anything more important to do?” Stevie peered into the room and raised his eyebrow. “Left 4 Dead, probably?”

“Left 4 Dead 2, actually.”

Stevie rolled his eyes and laughed. Fernando laughed weakly too, but he held on to the door protectively. He knew Stevie was going to convince him to go out – drag him out, if he had to – and he didn’t want to.

“Let me in,” Stevie said, eyeing Fernando’s hand on the door jamb.

“No.”

“Let me in, Nando,” Stevie said slowly like he was talking to a five-year-old.

Fernando moved to close the door, but Stevie swiftly blocked his arm. Taking Fernando by the waist, the Scouser barged in and practically tackled Fernando to the bed in one flawless move that probably would have gotten Stevie accepted into their American football team.

Fernando groaned as the air got knocked out of him. “Must you be this violent?” He wheezed.

Stevie sat cross-legged on the bed and glanced down at the younger boy. He turned sombre, and Fernando dreaded what was coming next.

“I heard about what happened between you and Daniel.”

Fernando shook his head. “I knew it,” he murmured, reaching out to grab a pillow and covering his face with it. That was better for Stevie, in a way. At least he wouldn’t have to look the Spaniard in the eye when he apologised.

“Listen. I’m sorry.” Stevie said, tugging at a loose thread on the pillow case.

Fernando peered from behind the cushion, confused. “What for?”

Stevie trained his eyes on the faded print of Fernando’s pyjama top. “I shouldn’t have encouraged you to do it with Daniel.”

Fernando laughed. “Stevie, that’s crazy. You’re the one who was warning me from the very start.”

Stevie just continued frowning away. The guilt sat uncomfortably at the pit of his stomach.

Was he happy that Daniel was wasting away miserably now? Hell yes. He was over the fucking moon.

But did he enjoy watching Fernando’s demise, on the other hand? That, not so much.

Stevie had predicted that Fernando wouldn’t take this break-up well. But he predicted he wouldn’t care. It was that stupid kiss, maybe. That changed things a little.

Fernando pushed himself up on his elbows. He scratched at Stevie’s knee until the older boy finally looked him in the eye.

“It’s not your fault, okay?”

Stevie’s lips were set in a firm, stubborn line. He sidestepped the question and asked back, “Could you just accept my apology anyway?”

Fernando seemed confused – this was the most repentant he’s seen Stevie and he didn’t understand what for. But he eventually shrugged, “If that’s what you want.”

Stevie nodded. “Good. Now can you please go to the party with me? It will make you feel better.”

Fernando sighed. It was a long, morose sigh. “I don’t want to see Daniel. He’s going to be fine, and he’s going to pretend nothing happened. And I... I’ll be a wreck.”

Stevie’s guilt flared up again at the brokenness of Fernando’s words. “I doubt Daniel will go tonight. The party’s at Carra’s.”

“But what if…”

“If he does go, he’ll see that you’re having the time of your life. He’ll realise you’ve moved on and forgotten all about him,” Stevie vowed. “And then I’ll tell Carra to throw him out.”

Fernando laughed but shook his head. “You guys go ahead and have fun.”

Stevie groaned. He pulled Fernando up to a seated position so they were face-to-face. Cupping Fernando’s cheek, he looked at the younger boy seriously and said, “Fernando, I want you there.”

Fernando had stopped breathing; that was pretty clear.

“Will you go with me, please?”

Damn, Stevie. He knew Fernando wouldn’t be able to say no to a direct invitation. And the way he asked it, like he was asking Fernando out. Fernando had always wished that someone would ask him out like that – clear and proper and gallant.

Fernando exhaled, long and slow. “Okay. I will.”

Stevie broke into a wide grin and whooped.

Fernando leapt off the bed. “I still have to take a bath and get ready. Do you want to go ahead?”

Stevie snorted. “I asked you out. Of course I’m waiting for you.”

Fernando felt his cheeks turning pink, so he turned away. “I’ll hurry.”

“No need,” Stevie said, stretching out on Fernando’s bed and reaching for a magazine on the bedside table. “The party waits for me,” he said with an air of arrogance only he could pull off.

Fernando snickered and shook his head.

“What? It’s true!”

“I know, I know.”

Fernando stopped on his way to the bathroom, towel and clothes in hand. “Thank you, by the way.”

Stevie looked up from his magazine and shrugged nonchalantly. “Of course.”

*

Pepe felt his jaw practically drop to the floor when he saw Stevie enter Carra’s house with Fernando.

Worse, Fernando looked so _happy_ at his side.

He brought out his phone and texted furiously –

_Stevie’s here with Fernando in Carra’s party!_

Pepe chewed on his lip and revised his message.

_Fernando’s here in Carra’s party!_

There. No need to stir up any more trouble than necessary. He sent the message to Daniel.

The defender replied instantly.

_So?  
 **Sender: Daniel Agger, 10:25 PM**_

Pepe rolled his eyes. He wished Daniel was here right now so he could smack his head.

_Get your ass here. This is your chance.  
 **Sender: Pepe Reina, 10:27 PM**_

_I’m not even invited to that stupid party.  
 **Sender: Daniel Agger, 10:30 PM**_

_I’m inviting you right now. Leave Carra to me.  
 **Sender: Pepe Reina, 10:31 PM**_

*

It was a small party in Carra’s house. It was just the boys on the football team, along with their closest friends and girlfriends – everyone in school who mattered, as Stevie put it. Daniel wasn’t there.

People just stood in small groups all across the living room, talking and drinking beer. It was really good beer, though. It’s been so long since Fernando had a cold one. He was on his third bottle already, an hour into the party. He could feel himself swaying subtly to the music and laughing easily at his teammates’ jokes.

Stevie put an arm around his shoulders. “You feeling alright?”

Fernando looked up at him and smiled, nodding. _Glorious._ That was the word for it. Fernando felt glorious, actually.

It was overwhelming, hanging out with friends again, being outside of his room again, thinking about things other than Daniel again. It was like he was fine again. It was an addictive feeling. He was on a high. It was an unnatural high, sure, and he was going to come crashing down later, but he would take this for now.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d drop by,” Carra spoke up, adding, “Since you’ve been hanging out with that Agger boy so often.”

Fernando and Stevie exchanged glances.

“Yeah, well, Stevie asked me to come. I couldn’t say no to that,” Fernando smoothly evaded the topic of Daniel. He wasn’t ready to talk about him to other people. Though Carra didn’t know anything about their relationship, just the mention of the Dane’s name made Fernando’s blood run cold.

“Come on, let’s go and get some more beers,” Stevie piped in before Carra could probe further. He placed a hand on the small of Fernando’s back and ushered him out of the group. He didn’t move away until they got to the kitchen where the drinks were stocked.

Come to think of it, the entire night, Stevie had kept close to him – standing by his side, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, hands accidentally brushing together. It was strange, but it was comforting. Fernando liked knowing that Stevie was near, especially during these times that he felt so alone and vulnerable.

Fernando made his way to the cooler to grab some beer, but Stevie went to an ornate cabinet at the far corner, leading to the dining room.

“Maybe it’s time we got some real alcohol,” Stevie said, pulling open a drawer and taking out a bottle of Jagermeister.

Fernando tsked. “Stevie, put that back.”

“I don’t understand why Carra’s serving just beer tonight.”

“Well, it is his house…”

“I steal from Carra’s liquor cabinet all the time. He knows it, even his parents know it.”

Stevie took out two shot glasses and started pouring the alcohol. Just the bright red colour of the liquid made Fernando’s stomach turn.

Stevie held out one glass for Fernando. When the Spaniard hesitated, Stevie pushed it closer to his lips.

“Would I ever lead you to trouble?” He asked, point-blank.

Fernando’s jaw dropped. “Well, no,” he admitted.

“Exactly,” Stevie said. He took Fernando’s hand and pressed the glass to his palm. He didn’t take his eyes off the Spaniard until he relented.

They both sat by the counter and talked until they were halfway through the bottle. No one really looked for them. They talked about Fernando’s childhood in Spain, about how he was brought up and how he knew he was too trusting, odd and even naïve. Stevie also told him about his life, his first few years in the football team and how he had to climb up the ranks like everybody else.

“Everyone just assumes that Carra and I are bullies, and we run the squad like it’s our kingdom. We had to clean boots and play piggy-in-the-middle just like everyone else when we were freshmen. So just stop complaining and get down to it,” Stevie said, point-blank.

They’ve never really talked that much, the two of them. Fernando laughed at Stevie’s stupid jokes, and it felt like the weight on his chest lightened.

Fernando cradled his head in his hand as his vision started to blur. And suddenly, he was seeing Stevie through a completely different lens, as a guy who has only ever helped him throughout the school year. In return, he mistrusted him – based on Daniel’s word.

“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you when you warned me about Daniel,” Fernando blurted out suddenly.

Stevie looked up, surprised at the confession. “Well, some of the things Agger says about me are true,” he said gruffly.

Then he smiled wryly and swirled the alcohol in his glass. “But, yeah, do I wish that you didn’t go out with him? Of course.”

Fernando studied Stevie intently. The Scouser refused to meet his gaze, instead pouring himself another drink and downing it quickly.

“Come on, let’s go, Carra might be looking for us,” Fernando said after some time. Stevie nodded and they stood up, both with a slight wobble. The older boy reached out to steady Fernando and himself, and he kept his arm around Fernando until the very last second when they had to rejoin the party.

Stevie opened the door and the noise came flooding in. It was startling, compared to the silence and emptiness of the kitchen earlier.

In the distance, someone was yelling: “Yo, there he is! Fernando!”

Both Fernando and Stevie turned to look, and it was Pepe, standing by the foyer, craning his neck and waving his arms in the air.

“What the fuck,” Fernando murmured. Pepe pushed past a couple of people until he emerged… with Daniel in tow.

Fernando’s gasp was ragged and horrified. He could literally feel the blood draining from his face.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” Stevie asked. He turned to the Spaniard, but he was just shell-shocked, stringing together curse after panicked curse.

Stevie saw the look in Daniel’s eyes. They had a fiery determination to them, and he felt his heartbeat quicken in anxiety. He didn’t know if Daniel saw him, but he did see Fernando. Stevie had a feeling he knew what Daniel was planning to do.

Daniel was already making his way to the Spaniard. Fernando stood rooted on the spot. Stevie had to act quickly, though his mind couldn’t completely comprehend his own motivations. He took Fernando by the forearm and yanked him, ducking behind a group of people and then quickly slipping up the dark stairwell.

The corridor was dim and quiet since the party was confined to the ground floor. Stevie led the way to the guest room where he always stayed. The moment he closed the door behind them, Fernando let out his breath shakily.

“Holy fuck, Stevie, you said he wouldn’t be here. What the fuck is he even doing here?” Fernando began rambling.

“Do you think he was looking for me? Why would he be looking for me? I’ve been running after him like a fool these past few weeks, and now that I’ve caught him with somebody else, he’s coming back for me? Is this some sort of game?!” Fernando asked hysterically, eyes wide and hands flailing.

Stevie took Fernando’s arms and held them down, then he leaned in to kiss him. Just lightly, on the lips, for a second or two. It felt like the most natural thing to do to shut him up. It worked, at least.

Fernando stood there, blinking. “What…” Now he couldn’t even get words out.

“Just calm down. Daniel probably just thought of crashing the party. You know how he is,” Stevie said with a shrug like he didn’t just kiss Fernando out of the blue.

“Yeah, yeah, that makes sense,” Fernando said absently. He paced the room back and forth.

“And I’m sorry about the kiss,” Stevie said.

Fernando stopped in his tracks, almost tripping over his feet. “Oh,” he said, his cheeks flushing a bright red, “It’s okay. I mean… it’s fine.” He glanced down at the carpet as he clarified, “The kiss was fine.”

When he saw Stevie’s eyebrows rise, he hurriedly quipped, “It’s not like it’s the first time anyway.”

They both laughed awkwardly, and Fernando felt like slapping himself. Why wasn’t his brain processing the things that were coming out of his mouth? He sat down on a chair to steady himself. His head was spinning.

Stevie was still staring at him intently. And then he walked towards Fernando.

The next thing he knew, Stevie was kissing him again. This time, he kissed back just as fervently.

Stevie cupped his face and plunged deeper into the kiss. He slid his tongue into Fernando’s mouth, and that caught the younger boy by surprise.

“Whoa, down, boy,” Fernando teased.

Stevie nodded distractedly, but when he bent down to kiss Fernando again, he was just as forceful, this time clutching at Fernando’s collar and running a hand roughly through the Spaniard’s hair.

Fernando broke away again and placed a hand on Stevie’s chest. “Hey, take it easy.”

Stevie didn’t seem to take it the right way. He immediately jumped to an accusation. “What? It’s Daniel, isn’t it?”

“What? Of course not.”

But Stevie’s mood had already darkened visibly. “Forget about Agger. He doesn’t care about you.”

The brash words unsettled Fernando even more than Stevie’s behaviour earlier.

Stevie bent down to kiss him again, and the Spaniard tilted his head up to meet him reluctantly. Stevie sensed Fernando’s hesitation, and in frustration, he grabbed the younger boy by the scruff of his neck and pulled him forward, forcing him into the liplock.

Fernando turned away and snapped, “What is wrong with you?”

Stevie didn’t answer. He pushed Fernando’s seat back to make space, the wooden legs scraping angrily against the floor until its back hit the dresser.

“Okay, Stevie, wait,” Fernando tried to reason out, “Can we talk first?”

And then Stevie’s lips were on him again, cutting off whatever else he wanted to say. His kisses became sloppier, open-mouthed and urgent. He licked where he could.

“Fucking hell,” Fernando tried to speak in between kisses, “Stevie, hold on,” he spluttered, trying to hold Stevie back. But the Scouser moved to straddle Fernando, one leg on either side of him as he sat on his lap, effectively caging him in his seat.

“What are you doing?” Fernando demanded, squirming underneath Stevie, but his limbs were pinned down underneath the captain’s dead weight. He tried to calm his racing thoughts. Stevie’s just drunk. Stevie’s always rowdy when he’s drunk, he told himself. And he’s been acting strangely all night.

“Come on, Stevie, time to sober up,” he reasoned out, “They’re probably looking for us down – ah!”

Fernando yelped as Stevie started kissing down his neck, nipping at the sensitive spot just behind the younger boy’s ear. He snickered at Fernando’s reaction, and he sucked at the area harder. Fernando’s body jerked violently, not out of excitement but panic.

“Stevie, please, stop,” Fernando said, voice ragged. He pushed weakly against Stevie’s massive frame. With Fernando’s arms raised in defence, Stevie used that as an opportunity to reach down and palm Fernando’s unguarded chest and torso. He groped lustily at the taut muscle. Fernando’s face reddened in shame.

Stevie tugged Fernando’s hips against his, and he groaned through gritted teeth at the friction. Fernando, though, felt nothing but fear. The more Fernando tried to get away, the lower and lower he slid down his chair, giving Stevie the upper hand.

The dread was paralysing Fernando. He could feel Stevie’s hand lifting up his shirt and touching his bare stomach. The cold touch made him shudder. He shut his eyes as he felt Stevie reach under his jeans.

“You already let Daniel fuck you,” Stevie said. “I don’t mind being your second.”

Fernando couldn’t tell if Stevie was making an offer, making a confession or quite simply, making fun of him. But that didn’t matter because the hand that was straying underneath the waistband of Fernando’s boxers – that was clear enough.

Stevie grabbed at Fernando’s ass and bit down hard on his shoulder. Fernando stifled a scream of pain as the older boy’s fingernails and teeth dug into his flesh. His instincts went on overdrive, and with an unexplainable burst of strength, he toppled them both over.

The boys fell to the floor in a tangle, and Stevie reeled at the impact of landing on the floor. Fernando took that as an opportunity to get to his feet. His legs were shaking so badly, he was practically stumbling as he ran for the door.

Stevie was still sprawled on the carpet and he stared at Fernando, horrified. Fernando glimpsed back but fleetingly, and the strange thing was, Stevie looked horrified… at himself. Like the moment of madness had come to pass and he was waking up from a nightmare. He looked like a different Stevie, the old Stevie. But he was one and the same person to Fernando now, and when he flew down the stairs, it felt like his feet weren’t even touching the floor.

*

Carra wouldn’t let Daniel up to the second floor no matter how much he insisted that Stevie and Fernando had gone there.

“The party’s just here in the first floor,” Carra said.

“But I saw them!” Dan insisted.

Carra refused to believe him, and he told Daniel that if he wanted to talk to Fernando so badly, then he better wait outside by the gate to wait for him to leave. He couldn’t stay in here. He wasn’t invited, the Scouser said.

So Dan sat by the steps leading to Carra’s front door, hugging his jacket close to him, anxiously smoking stick after stick until his cigarette pack was empty. He watched every boy and girl leave the party, but not one of them was Fernando.

An hour and a half later, Dan contemplated giving up. His face was frozen and he was getting cranky without his cigarettes.

Not long after, though, the doors behind him flew open. A blonde blur hurried down the steps and across the front garden, and it took Daniel a couple of seconds to recognise who it was.

“Fernando?” Dan wondered out loud. He jumped to his feet and ran after him. “Fernando!” He yelled louder so he could be heard over the noise of the party.

The Spaniard practically jumped out of his skin when he heard his name. And when he whirled around, Daniel saw that his face was pale and covered with a sheen of sweat. That immediately made the defender suspicious – something wasn’t right here.

And, when Fernando saw that it was Daniel who called him, he seemed to heave a sigh of relief. He even looked grateful. That made Dan even more worried.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Daniel asked. 

The Spaniard was already shaking his head vigorously before the question finished. “Nothing.”

The front door opened again, and this time it was Stevie who emerged. He ran out of the house with the same urgency Fernando had. When he saw Daniel with Fernando, he skidded to an abrupt stop. He glanced at the both of them, and the anxiety, the uncertainty, even the guilt could be read all over his face.

Daniel sensed Fernando stepping behind him, and that confirmed his worst suspicions.

He turned to Stevie. “What did you do?” he asked with a surprising calmness.

“Stay out of this,” Stevie dismissed, making a move to approach Fernando. The blonde cowered closer to Dan.

Daniel blocked Stevie, planting one hand on his chest to keep him from going any farther. His other hand was already rolling into a tight fist. The anger bubbled higher and higher up his chest until he couldn’t breathe properly. “What the fuck happened?”

“It’s none of your business,” Stevie snapped impatiently, trying to get to Fernando again. Daniel shoved him away when he got too close.

Stevie snarled after he regained his footing. “You better step away and leave us alone… or else.”

“Or else what?”

Stevie smiled coldly. Dan growled back. They stared each other down like two dogs baring their teeth and fighting for their territory.

“Fuck you, Gerrard, that wasn’t part of the deal.”

“That’s my call, not yours, and I’m telling you now that it is.”

Dan half-screamed in frustration, but he backed down. He hated this. He hated Stevie. And he hated himself, most of all, and the stupid corner he painted himself into. He came here to tell Fernando the truth, but he couldn’t do that with Stevie here. It was difficult enough to tell Fernando the most painless, most sanitized version of the bet without that Scouse bastard interfering.

“There. Now turn around and go home,” Stevie said. “You’re not supposed to be here anyway.”

Holding his arms firmly down to his sides, Dan stepped away, head kept down. He was retreating, with his tail between his legs. He couldn’t look at Fernando.

“Wait,” the Spaniard spoke up. “I’ll go with you.”

Stevie and Daniel both turned and asked in the same surprised voice. “What?!”

“Why are you going with him? Stay here, we need to talk,” Stevie ordered, like he did so often.

But Fernando just turned to Dan, imploring, “Let’s go, please.”

Dan couldn’t stop himself from smiling at Fernando, and the blonde even smiled back briefly. They made for the gate.

“Really, you’re choosing him?” Stevie guffawed disbelievingly behind them. “Well, congratulations, Agger, how much do you get paid for this now?”

It was like Daniel was doused with a bucket of cold water. He froze, and no matter how deeply he breathed, he couldn’t get any air into his lungs.

Fernando turned slowly to face the two boys. He had been willing to let the crude comment go, dismissing it as an offhand remark from the Scouser who was increasingly getting more and more uncontrollable as the night went on. But Daniel had turned rigid beside him.

“What is he talking about?” Fernando asked Daniel directly. Nothing good was going to come out of this, he knew, but he prayed he would at least hear it from him.

Daniel had this all memorised in his head, but now that he tried to utter the words, he realised how pathetic they sounded.

“It was so long ago. I didn’t know you then,” he began.

Fernando crossed his arms over his chest, as if physically bracing himself for what would come next.

“I was attracted to you. Who wasn’t? But everyone told me nothing would happen since you didn’t believe in sleeping around and obviously, I did,” Dan don’t know how he got from the beginning of one sentence to the end of the next.

“So, it became a game.”

“It wasn’t a game!”

“A dare?”

“A bet,” Stevie corrected.

Fernando’s jaw dropped. He didn’t even notice that it was Stevie butting in. “A _bet_?” he spat out.

Daniel cringed at that word. “It was a stupid bet, I know, I know,” he offered readily. “But it isn’t as horrible as it sounds! Pepe just challenged me – ”

“Pepe!” Fernando exclaimed, horrified.

“Wait, listen!” Daniel urged. “Pepe just challenged me to take it slow with you. He said you wouldn’t be like any of the other people I’ve dated. And if I really wanted to be with you, I had to take it slow and get to know you first. Pepe just wagered that I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

Fernando didn’t look entirely convinced. “So, you bet on your chances of dating me.”

“More like, he bet on the chances of taking your virginity,” Stevie deadpanned.

“Fuck off,” Dan said.

“Is it true?”

“No,” Dan answered too quickly.

Fernando shook his head. “Pepe’s been ordering me to get laid ever since I got here. Of course this isn’t beneath him.”

Daniel wondered why the bet wasn’t beneath him too.

“How much?”

“What?”

“How much was it?” Fernando asked. The corners of his lips were tight with tension.

Dan averted his gaze. “A thousand dollars.”

Fernando’s eyes widened at the sum. But in reality, he didn’t know how to react. A thousand dollars? Was that cheap? Was the task of bedding him such a trifle matter? Or, if that was expensive, was Daniel really that confident he would succeed?

There was a long bout of silence as everything that was said and left unsaid settled heavily around them.

Finally, Fernando said, “Is there anything else I should know?”

Dan and Stevie shook their heads. Fernando barely recognised the two boys in front of him. He thought they were his friends, and he even thought they could be more than that. Clearly, he was wrong.

Fernando nodded. “Right. Then, I’m done here.”

Daniel couldn’t even stop him. He just stood rooted on the spot as Fernando left, in disbelief at how this night played out.

He felt a blunt force as Stevie slapped him on the back, and it jolted him out of his daze. “Great job, Agger,” he snickered.

It was a rage blackout – that was probably the most appropriate description for it. Daniel didn’t know how he took Stevie down. He didn’t feel the impact of their bodies falling to the ground. He could see everything unfolding in front of him, but he was only just watching. His mind had shut off and his body was just moving by its own will.

He was punching Stevie. That was the only thing Daniel could comprehend. He was landing punches wherever he could, and he threw his strength behind every hit. By the fifth swing, he was already heaving, his knuckles swollen and burning. But he just kept going and going, and nobody could make him stop.


	8. Loose ends

Nicklas figured he’d find Daniel in the parking lot. He wasn’t in their English class this morning, and he didn’t show up during lunch at their table in the cafeteria either.

_But of course he’d cut school._

Daniel was in his car, his seat reclined all the way back, his socked feet propped up on the dashboard. The windows were rolled down but Nick knocked on the pane nonetheless to announce himself. Dan ignored him. His earphones were firmly placed in his ears, and his attention was fully focused on his iPad.

Nicklas reached out and disconnected the wire from the tablet. Dan looked up, scowling.

“Angry Birds, really?”

Dan huffed, but he didn’t bother to return to his game. “I was bored,” he said, throwing his iPad on the passenger seat.

“You wouldn’t be bored if you actually attended class.”

“Fuck off.”

Nick chuckled and threw a paper bag at Daniel. “At least get some food in you.”

Dan mumbled his thanks as he unwrapped the sandwich, biting into the bread hungrily.

“God, have you even eaten anything at all this day?” The sandwiches in the cafeteria weren’t exactly to die for.

Dan shrugged, and he finished his meal after just three more bites.

Nick propped his elbows up on the car door. “How are you holding up?”

Dan shrugged again. “Didn’t you bring me anything to drink?”

Nick rolled his eyes. “I figured I could convince you to come back to the cafeteria so you can buy your own soda.”

“If any of my teachers see me, they’ll ask why I haven’t been attending classes. So, no.”

“Why did you even bother to go to school if you were just going to hide out in your car?”

Dan laughed humourlessly. “Well, first, my mother never believes me when I pretend I’m sick.”

“And?”

Dan sighed and looked across the parking lot to the school entrance. “I was hoping I could catch Fernando.”

Nick’s forehead furrowed. He’s never seen Dan this down. “He’s still not talking to you?”

Dan shook his head. He reached for his iPad again – he didn’t like having to talk about this. Nick read the signals clearly.

“Well, you’re not going to get to talk to Fernando any time soon since lunch is about to end. I doubt a confrontation in between classes is going to help your cause,” Nick reasoned out. “How about you go out, get yourself a decent lunch and come back here in time for dismissal?”

Dan rubbed his eyes tiredly. “I guess.”

Nick checked his watch. He had about five minutes before his break ended. He gazed at his friend worriedly. “What are you planning to tell Fernando anyway?”

“I haven’t really planned that far ahead.”

The blonde was clearly not impressed. Daniel wanted to reach over and smack him with his iPad.

“All I know is, I need to do two things: Get Fernando back and pay Stevie his due.”

Nick was already wagging his finger before Dan finished talking. “No, no, no. Dan, can you just let this go? You can’t get into any more trouble.”

Dan didn’t answer Nick. He knew he was right. He was still serving a three-week suspension from the football team as it was. Naturally, Stevie and Carra made sure that Rafa heard about the brawl. And it’s not like Daniel could deny it – Stevie’s bruises were enough evidence, even without the eyewitness accounts of most of the boys on the football team who were at the party and had to haul him off the Scouser.

“It’s probably going to be worth it, you know,” Dan said with a cold grin. He didn’t know what he was going to do to Stevie, but just the thought of getting his revenge sent a delicious tingle down his spine.

The lunch bell rang, and Nick checked his watch hesitantly. “Look, I gotta go, Dan. But please – _please_ – don’t do anything too stupid.”

*

It was Daniel’s first game back, a derby against their rival school Welles. He was a ball of energy – angry energy. He hadn’t been on the pitch in so long, and his first day back, he had to fight a scrappy match against their bitter foes.

Pepe kept yelling at him to keep his calm, he was already on a yellow – an undeserved yellow, mind you. Sure, he tackled the striker from behind, but he got the ball first before he got the boy’s ankle. Fucking primadonna weeped like a baby when it was just a gash.

Just before halftime, he was tussling with one of the Welles wingers, and he went down to the ground clutching his face. Daniel didn’t care even though the crowd booed loudly. He just continued bringing the ball out, looking for teammates to pass too.

“Just put the ball out of fucking play!” Stevie yelled at him from a couple of yards away.

Daniel glared at him and pointedly booted the ball to Dirk. The Dutchman kicked the ball out of bounds, and the medics immediately rushed to the Welles player to attend to him.

“Get a hold of yourself, man!” Dirk told him, slapping him on the back.

Stevie wasn’t as calm. “Get your head out of your fucking ass, Agger! If you get a yellow card and we go down to ten men…”

“Fuck off! The ref didn’t call a foul, and he’s not fucking dying!” Dan said.

“Oy! Stop it, both of you!” Fernando yelled.

It was still 1-1 by the 80th minute, and the game was getting even tetchier. The crowd were on their feet, the tackles were flying in wildly and the referee kept blowing his whistle for needless fouls.

Carra cleared a corner and hacked it forward with all his might – that was Carra for you, all strength, no real direction. Daniel was screaming for the ball so he could bring it out, but of course the vice-captain wasn’t going to pass to him.

Fernando jumped up to nod the ball down. A Welles defender jumped up with him – he had a glint in his eye that Daniel recognised. He looked like a mad dog, Dan thought to himself. That was probably how he was behaving the entire game too.

Fernando and the defender clashed mid-air, and the Spaniard fell back down to the ground with a thud. The whistle blew. Before the referee could even get to the two, though, the defender was already crouching over Fernando, yelling loudly and trying to pull him up to his feet.

It was a normal occurrence in a game – defenders weren’t particularly fond of the Spaniard. And Fernando liked to take headers and that usually led to some nasty knocks.

But Daniel… god, he was just. He didn’t know how to keep his temper in check these days.

He was yards away from the altercation, but he still marched to the two. Everyone else was just idling around, except the captains who were talking with the referee.

“Hey, fuck off,” Daniel pulled the defender away.

The Welles defender shrugged Dan’s hand off his shoulder. “How about you get Torres on his feet and tell him to stop playing like a fucking fag?”

“I said, fuck off!”

“Why don’t you bugger off? Who the fuck are you anyway?”

Dan felt his hackles rising. Of course the defender knew who he was – they’ve played against each other several times this year. But the mindless taunt rubbed infuriated Daniel anyway, especially since he was coming off about a month at the sidelines.

Dan lunged for the defender, his hand already tightening into a fist. It was a good thing Pepe and Dirk were on him in a flash, holding him back, since Daniel didn’t have the sense to walk away from any kind of trouble these days.

The referee marched up to him to tell him off, but Daniel could barely pay attention to his words. All he could see was the Welles defender laughing at him hysterically. And who could blame him? On this behaviour, Daniel was a sending-off waiting to happen. Thankfully, though, the cards stayed in the referee’s pocket as he settled for a long, stern sermon. 

Rafa wasn’t as lenient. Martin Skrtel barely even had the chance to warm up, but the manager hustled him off the bench and onto the sidelines. The Slovak struggled to take off his training top while listening to Rafa’s hasty instructions at the same time.

The substitution board went up, and true enough, it flashed the number 5 and 37. Daniel frowned deeply as he trudged off the pitch, the crowd jeering in his wake. Martin pat him on the back in consolation before coming on. Dan didn’t look at Rafa in the eye, but the manager’s grip was tight when they shook hands.

“Fighting again?” Rafa asked.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened,” Dan mumbled.

“Go back to the locker room. I’ll talk to you later,” Rafa ordered.

It felt like hours before the game finished. Daniel took the longest shower possible, but it still felt like the game was raging on outside. He just sat in one corner of the locker room, sombered by regret and cold with dread.

When the door crashed open, Daniel practically jumped out of his skin. But it wasn’t Rafa. To his shock, It was Fernando.

“What the fuck was that, huh?” Fernando demanded loudly, stalking up to Daniel, absolutely livid.

Dan was taken aback – he’s never heard Fernando shout before. “Did we win?” He asked dumbly.

“Yeah,” Fernando nodded. “Stevie scored a penalty in added time. Everyone’s still outside celebrating.”

“Congratulations then, I guess.”

Fernando shook his head, his jaw clenched tightly. He didn’t come here to talk about the game. “What the fuck has gotten into you, Daniel? Do you want to get kicked off the squad?”

Dan stood and tried to calm Fernando down, but the Spaniard deftly move away to keep the distance between them.

Dan sighed. “I was just having a bad day. I lost my temper.”

“It’s not just today. What, did you think I wouldn’t hear about the brawl at Carra’s party? And what about all the classes you’ve skipped this week, huh?”

Dan sighed again, helplessly this time. “Fernando, I just want to be able to talk to you.”

“Well, I want you to leave me alone,” Fernando answered coldly.

Dan’s heart wrenched painfully in his chest, his despair etched clearly across his face. Fernando’s expression softened, but almost imperceptibly.

“And, I want you to stop getting yourself in trouble,” he added, calmer now but still as stern.

Dan cocked his head to the side as he studied the Spaniard. “You barely sound like the old Fernando.”

Fernando’s eyebrow rose, and he allowed himself a wry chuckle. He removed his headband and shook out his sweaty hair. “It’s not like the old Fernando turned out so well for me anyway.” 

Outside, the crowd continued celebrating, songs blaring loudly through the stadium. But heavy footsteps were starting to descend down the corridors. The moment slowly disintegrated around them.

Dan spoke quietly. “I won’t do it again.”

Whether he was referring to the fighting or the cutting or something else entirely, he didn’t clarify. Fernando seemed to understand anyway. He gave a curt nod and returned to his own locker.

*

“Well, I’m glad to know you’re out of your funk,” Pepe greeted as he plopped down next to Daniel in the cafeteria.

Dan raised an eyebrow. “I’m waiting for Christian and Nick. You’re joining us for lunch?” He asked, although it was clear in his tone that he didn’t want Pepe there. He hasn’t talked to Pepe since that fateful night at Carra’s. He wasn’t mad at him. He just didn’t want to remember the bet.

“Blow them off. I need to talk to you in private,” Pepe said with a shrug. He had a way of talking in such a carefree way, but Dan noticed that the keeper’s shoulders were hunched in tension.

“What is it now?” He asked anxiously.

Pepe nodded at Daniel’s lunch. “Bring that. Let’s go outside.”

The defender sighed. He was tired of secrets. Nonetheless, he wrapped up his sandwich again and picked up his milk carton, following Pepe to the courtyard.

“I never took you for a milk kind of guy.”

Dan rolled his eyes. “It’s a good source of calcium, didn’t you know.”

They sat down on one of the tables in the far side of the lawn. The varnish on the wood had been paled and stripped by wear and tear. Dan scratched at it to keep himself distracted. “What’s up? I’m sure you didn’t bring me here just to talk about my dietary requirements.”

Pepe smiled like a cat that got the cream. “Have I got the scoop for you.”

Dan looked sceptical, but he leaned in anyway.

“Do you remember Window Bar? The one along Jarvis St.?”

“Yeah, we used to drink there, didn’t we?”

Pepe nodded. “One of my cousins is the manager there. I was with him last night in his bar, and I got to know one of his bartenders because he was Spanish too.”

“Is this going to be a long story?”

“Just shut up,” Pepe hissed. “Anyway, this guy – Xabi – he swears he fooled around with Stevie before.”

Daniel’s jaw dropped. “Stevie? Steven Gerrard?” He practically screeched out.

“Exactly my reaction! I don’t think Xabi knows Stevie isn’t gay. Or out. Because he just said ‘yeah, Stevie, the captain of your football team.’” The keeper narrated, “And he was all, ‘You know? Thunder thighs, thick hair, horrible accent?’ like he didn’t just drop a fucking bomb on me.”

Dan held his head in his hands as he struggled to absorb all this new information. “Holy fuck. So, do you believe this guy?”

“He doesn’t go to our school, so how else would he know Stevie? Besides, Xabi looks like a really decent person. What would he get out of lying about this?”

“I don’t know. A reputation?”

Pepe shrugged. “Don’t you think it’s strange, though? We haven’t been back at the Window Bar in so long, even though we always went there for drinks before.”

“That’s bordering on a conspiracy theory, Pepe.”

“Come on, Stevie’s always insisted on drinking in Ultra since. Maybe he’s gotten caught with Xabi before, don’t you think? Or maybe’s he just become paranoid after you spread rumours about him being a fag.”

Daniel snorted. “It wasn’t a rumour. It was just a throwaway comment. By the way he reacted though, you’d think…” They both laughed.

Daniel stopped short, though, and he suddenly looked distressed. He shifted in his seat, clasped his hands together and stared hard at the table. Pepe sat still, afraid to ask what was going on.

Finally, Dan leaned in closer to Pepe. “You can’t tell anyone about this.”

Pepe nodded, his mouth dry and scratchy.

“During Carra’s party, Fernando and Stevie came out of the house, and I swear to god, something wasn’t right. It was like they fought or something worse. Fernando didn’t even want to be left with Stevie,” Dan frowned. “I really think Stevie tried something on him. There was just a look about them.”

The mood at the table sank heavily. Pepe’s forehead creased and his lips were pursed in a straight line.

“Did you ask Fernando about this yet?” He asked tightly.

“No. It was a pretty busy night, in case you forgot,” Dan rubbed his temples. He added bitterly, “And it’s not like he talks to me anymore now, so.”

“Fuck it. I can’t believe this.”

“Besides, even if we did get to talking, I don’t think it’s my place to ask. If he tells me, great. But if he doesn’t, then I’m not going to prod,” Dan said, more to himself than to Pepe.

Pepe nodded, but it was clear he was still troubled. “You can’t let Stevie get away with this. With all of this.”

Dan crumpled his empty milk box in frustration. “I… I can’t. I’m already in enough trouble with the team and the school.” _And I just promised Fernando I wouldn’t; I can’t keep breaking promises._

Pepe wouldn’t have it. “Leave it up to me. All we need is a plan that can’t be traced back to us.”

“You all know what happened the last time we plotted. It didn’t exactly turn out right,” Dan teased.

Pepe slammed his fist on the table, and it made Daniel jump. Clearly, he wasn’t in a joking mood.

“We fucked up with the bet, fine. But I’ll be damned if Stevie emerges from all of this untouched,” Pepe said. The defender blanched – Pepe rarely lost his temper. But Fernando cut off Pepe completely, just as he had cut off Daniel. That must have hit a sore spot for the keeper. They’ve known each other for far longer.

Dan mulled it over, picking at the plastic wrapper of his sandwich, untouched now that he’s lost his appetite. He was regretting having this conversation with Pepe. He’s been doing an excellent job the last few days forgetting about the bet and Stevie and most of all, Fernando.

But Pepe looked so sure of himself, it made Daniel just a little bit curious. He wanted revenge just as much as the keeper, if not more.

“What exactly do you have in mind?”

*

Stevie was a half hour early for training since his class ended ahead of time today. But when he entered the changing rooms, what he saw made him stop in his tracks: Fernando. He must have just arrived too, since he was still in his school clothes. It was only the two of them.

Fernando looked up, and when he saw that it was Stevie, he immediately turned red and turned away, busily rifling through his gym bag.

Stevie couldn’t move, his legs heavy as lead. He couldn’t bring himself to approach Fernando, and their lockers were right next to each other’s.

They haven’t talked since that night. And though Stevie knew it was his responsibility to initiate that conversation, he just couldn’t. He knew he had to apologise. But he couldn’t even admit to himself what he did. He couldn’t even bear to think back on it. Honestly – _honestly_ – he didn’t know what got into him. And he didn’t think Fernando would really accept that kind of justification.

Fernando combed back his hair from his face, and he took that as an opportunity to glance at Stevie out of the corner of his eye. The Scouser was standing there by the doorway, unmoving. Fernando felt just as stupid, digging through his gym bag. The only thing he was looking for was his change of clothes and they were right there. He just couldn’t imagine undressing in front of Stevie.

Sighing, Fernando zipped his duffel closed. If he was planning to change in privacy, he would have to go to the bathroom.

Stevie made a sound of protest, and Fernando looked up, startled.

The captain’s face was hard and unreadable. “I’ll leave.”

Before Fernando could respond, Stevie left.

*

“Oy, mate, where are you going?” Carra asked as he bumped into Stevie in the hallway. “Isn’t the gym that way?”

Stevie looked distracted. “I think I left something in my locker,” he mumbled. “Go with me.”

Carra did as he was ordered, without question. “What happened to you anyway? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Stevie shook his head dismissively. “It’s nothing.”

“Anyway, I was talking to Sami, and he’s pushing through with the party on Saturday to celebrate his birthday. He says he’ll have free-flowing beer. The manager at the Window Bar agreed to give him a huge discount.”

“Wait, in the Window Bar?” Stevie demanded.

Carra nodded.

“Why there? Can’t we drink somewhere else?” Stevie asked, his voice getting pitchy. “I heard the new pub down Lime St. opened this week.”

Carra shrugged. “It’s Sami’s party, not mine. Besides, we haven’t gone to the Window Bar in so long. And it’s free-flowing beer!”

Stevie groaned inwardly. He’s been avoiding that place at all costs to keep his friends from uncovering his tryst with Xabi. It had been so long ago, but Stevie was paranoid.

They reached his locker, and he pretended to go over his textbooks while Carra continued talking. He knew if he protested too much against the Window Bar, it would raise even more questions. It might be best if he just went with it.

Besides, it’s been a year since he’s last seen Xabi. It’s highly unlikely he would still be working there, Stevie thought. And he’s hung out with his friends in the Window Bar before and he managed to hide his meetings with Xabi from them. Surely, he could do it again.

“So, are we on for Saturday?” Carra asked.

Stevie gulped. A sense of dread was enveloping him, but he shook it off. “Okay,” he said hesitantly.

*

Daniel was in for a long night. The entire football team had cornered one area of the Window Bar, and the boys were already beginning to get loud and brash, just one pint in. He didn’t really plan on going to the party. All he wanted to do was to stake outside the bar to stalk Xabi and Stevie. But Sami was the one person in the squad who was friends with everyone, and Daniel couldn’t say no to his invite.

Dan spotted Xabi by the bar when he arrived. Good-looking guy, no question about it. You had to hand it to Stevie. Unfortunately, nothing was going to happen while the boys were still here, Pepe pointed out. If – and that was a pretty big ‘if,’ Dan had to admit – Stevie made a move on Xabi, he wouldn’t do it until the end of the night.

And that was why Daniel was sitting in a booth by himself, nursing his drink. And to pass the time, he watched Fernando. Obsessively. The way he fiddled with his hair or smacked his lips after a long swig of his drink. He noticed the nervous twitching of his fingers when Stevie passed by and the glazed look in his eyes when Carra talked to him too fast. He liked the way Fernando hung out with the younger members of the team who were standing by the fringes of the group. He talked to Lucas although that boy mumbled all the time, and he nodded politely at what he was saying.

“Why don’t you just approach Fernando?”

Dan looked up distractedly at Pepe. He sighed deeply then drank his beer. “He said he doesn’t want to talk. I don’t want to force the issue.”

The goalkeeper rolled his eyes. “Ah, yes. Stalking him from afar is much less invasive.”

“I can’t just go up to him.”

“If you don’t try, you’re both just going to keep ignoring each other, and you’ll never be able to fix this.” Pepe took Daniel by the shoulder and pulled him up. “Go. Just don’t cause a scene.”

Dan groaned. Pepe wasn’t going to let him enjoy (?) this party in peace. Dragging his feet, he went up to Fernando. The striker was chatting with Martin. When he caught Daniel approaching, he turned his body fully toward the Slovak to close himself off.

Dan finished his beer in one gulp to give him some sense of courage.

“Hey, guys!” He greeted too brightly. Martin clapped him on the back readily enough, but Fernando forced a tight smile.

“Anyway, man,” Dan looked at Martin straight in the eye as he fibbed, “I think Pepe was just looking for you.”

“Oh, really? What about?” Martin asked, confused.

“I don’t really know either. But it looked pretty urgent. I think it has something to do with your parking metre.”

Martin cursed. “I’ll be right back.”

Dan allowed himself a triumphant grin before slowly turning toward Fernando. The Spaniard did not look amused.

“Can I get you a drink?” Dan gestured at Fernando’s empty glass.

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“I’m getting a beer from the bar anyway, I might as well get you a fresh round,” Dan continued. He swooped in at every pause, just to keep Fernando from telling him to leave. “What are you having? Is that Jack and Coke?”

Fernando huffed irritably. “I said, no thank you.”

Daniel ignored him and head for the bar, until he felt a heavy hand on his arm, tugging him back.

“Daniel, stop,” Fernando said clearly and coldly.

Dan was stunned. Fernando had been so meek the last he remembered of him. Sure, he expected Fernando to resist him, but he didn’t expect Fernando to fight back.

The defender acceded – if they were both going to be stubborn, they weren’t going to get anywhere.

“I just want to do something nice for you,” he reasoned out. “I’m just going to get you a drink. I’m not holding you to anything.”

For a second, Daniel thought Fernando wasn’t listening as his expression remained stony all throughout. But, Dan felt the grip on his arm loosen, and Fernando let him go.

It was only when Dan reached the bar that he let out a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding in.

“Trouble in paradise?” Xabi smiled knowingly when Dan slumped over the bar.

Dan laughed. Damn, where did Stevie find this guy? And what possessed Xabi to sleep with that miserable Scouse bastard?

“Nah,” Dan said, looking over his shoulder to check on Fernando. The Spaniard sat in a table far away from Sami’s party. His arms were folded over his chest and his scowl was etched deeply on his face. “We’re just friends.”

Xabi glanced at Fernando too. He shrugged, “He’s really cute.”

Dan sighed, “I know.”

It was Xabi’s turn to laugh as he prepared Daniel’s drinks. “Well, the night is still young.”

Fernando’s mood hadn’t lightened by the time Dan returned with their refreshments.

“Here you go. Jack and Coke, as ordered,” Dan pushed the glass toward Fernando.

Fernando eyed the drink reluctantly before taking it. “Thanks,” he said grudgingly then continued, “Now that your good deed is done, can I leave?”

Dan frowned. “Fernando, can you just give me a few minutes…”

“You said you weren’t holding me to anything.”

“I know. But, I owe you at least an explanation and an apology about the bet, right?”

The Spaniard’s tensed visibly at the mention of the bet. “No, it’s fine. I don’t want to hear it.”

Dan reached out and tentatively ran the tips of his fingers against the back of Fernando’s hand. “Please?”

Fernando’s jaw was clenched as he stared out the window. He breathed deeply, quickly, struggling to keep his emotions in check. He had been angry for so long, and he had repressed it all until it was just a tiny ball of pain. On good days, he forgot it was there, sitting on his chest. It weighed heavily on him now.

“Make it quick,” he said through gritted teeth.

Dan should have felt relieved, but now he just felt even more anxious than ever. He had one shot at this.

“Last semester, Pepe dared me to seduce you. He didn’t understand why you were still a virgin, and at the same time, he wanted to challenge me to see if I could take it slow with someone since I was always in one-night stands.”

Fernando kept his eyes trained outside; Daniel’s, to the table. In a way, it made the confession easier.

“I don’t have any explanation why Pepe wanted to make that bet and why I wanted to take it. I didn’t know you then. All I knew was it was a game, and I wanted to win it.”

“Sure, when it started, I had my own intentions for getting closer to you. But when I got to know you, things changed. I really like you, Fernando. I wasn’t lying when I told you that before.” Dan insisted, “I know you won’t believe me now, but I wasn’t lying. You can’t lie about that.”

Fernando smiled sourly. “I don’t really know what you can or can’t lie about anymore.”

“If I didn’t care about you, why would I be here? Why would I even bother trying to apologise?” Daniel’s voice rose in indignation. “Why else?”

The Spaniard, though, met him strength for strength. “I don’t know. Guilt?”

“Excuse me?”

“If you really cared for me, why didn’t you ask Pepe to call it off? Or, if you couldn’t, why couldn’t you tell me about it? You’re only confessing this now because you were found out.”

Dan’s jaw dropped. He ran his fingers through his hair and pushed at his temples. “Honestly, I don’t know. I just thought…” He squeezed his eyes shut, “If I could win you and win the bet at the same time, then what was so wrong with that?”

“How convenient.”

“Look, it’s not like I forced you to sleep with me!” Fernando recoiled as Daniel burst out. He took a deep, shaky breath to calm himself. He hissed to keep his voice down. “You wanted it. You even asked for it. I couldn’t say no to you, Fernando, bet or not. God, I wanted you so badly!”

Nobody spoke after. The two boys slowly sat back as if mutually agreeing to let the words sink in and to let the tensions die down.

Fernando stared out the window again. He kept his eyes on a lamppost across the street, hoping that if he really focused on a fixed point, it would stop the tears from welling in his eyes. 

He didn’t dare open his mouth until he was sure he could keep his voice from cracking. He was quiet for an unnaturally long time, and he could sense Daniel watching him curiously. He breathed in and out until the storm of emotions in him calmed. In a way, Fernando was impressed by himself. He was heartbroken and angry and remorseful and even sorry. And then, he felt nothing.

“I guess it’s my fault too,” Fernando spoke. At first, his voice wavered, but it grew more firm as he went on, “I shouldn’t have fallen for you. I should have known better. Stevie warned me about you – ”

“Stevie!” Dan cried out in disbelief. He was prepared to apologise, but not for anything Stevie said. “That fucking bastard blackmailed me! He ordered me to stay away from you or else he would tell you about the bet.”

“And you followed him!” Fernando pointed out. “You could’ve come clean to me about that stupid bet – again. But you didn’t.”

Fernando downed his drink to make him feel better, but it was no use. He laughed bitterly, “You see, Dan, you tell me you care about me, but all I see is a series of decisions you kept on making without thinking about me at all.”

Daniel stared at the Spaniard helplessly. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, hanging his head. “You’re right. I should have told you.”

“I was so scared I’d lose you,” he explained. He reached out and covered Fernando’s hand with his own, “I mean, I’m already starting to, aren’t I?”

Fernando didn’t answer, only pulled his hand away.

Daniel shook his head and sighed. He wrapped his arms around his body and asked, “Is there any way I can still fix this?”

“You don’t need to fix this, Dan.” Fernando pinched the bridge of his nose and summoned the last shred of strength in his body. “I’m so tired of thinking about this and talking about this and fighting about this. I want a truce.”

Dan sat up. This was unexpected. “Go on.”

“I’m ready to forget about… all of this.”

This was a trick, wasn’t it? Dan leaned closer, eager and at the same time afraid to find out what the catch was.

“But after this, let me be.”

“E-excuse me?” Dan could barely cough the words out.

“I don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore, Dan,” Fernando’s voice hitched. “I’ll be your teammate and someday, I can probably even be your friend. But let’s leave it at that.”

Dan was already shaking his head before Fernando even finished talking. “No. No, no, no, that’s unfair.”

“That’s the best offer I can give you, so just take it.”

Dan gaped at Fernando in disbelief.

Fernando stood up from his seat and nodded curtly at the defender. “I’ll go ahead.” He clapped Dan’s shoulder heavily, “Goodbye.”

*

Pepe tried to intercept Daniel on his way out of the bar, but the defender just stormed past him.

“That didn’t look pretty,” Pepe said, walking faster so he could keep up with Dan.

Daniel silenced him with an icy glare.

“Sorry,” Pepe held up his hands.

“Let’s get this done and dusted. Keep your eye out for Stevie.”

*

Stevie was in such a bad mood, he barely noticed Xabi come up to him in the bar. That was saying something, since he did a violent double-take when he arrived at the party and spotted the Basque. He didn’t know he was still working here. His heart practically leapt to his throat when they locked eyes.

“You look troubled,” Xabi leaned over the bar to get a closer look at the Scouser.

Stevie tried to chuckle, but it sounded strained. “Yeah, I’m having a pretty bad night.”

“Another pint then?”

“Yes, please.”

Stevie sank down on the barstool and sighed deeply. The night got off on the wrong foot when he found out that Fernando and Daniel were both going to be at the party. Fernando had been laying low the past couple of weeks since Carra’s party, and Daniel usually avoided team events as much as possible. At worst, Stevie thought he would have to handle the presence of one or the other. He didn’t think they would both be here. Avoiding one person was manageable in a big group. Avoiding two, difficult. But three people avoiding each other – that was a disaster.

Things took a turn for the worse when he saw Daniel and Fernando talking. Whatever convinced Daniel to finally approach Fernando, or Fernando to finally give Daniel a chance, Stevie didn’t know. But whatever it was they talked about couldn’t be good for Stevie.

He watched them out of the corner of his eye. The conversation looked intense. And yet at the same time, so intimate. The defeat and the rejection tasted bitter like blood in his mouth.

“Stevie?” Xabi asked softly, and it woke him from his thoughts. “Here’s your beer.”

Stevie dug out his wallet to look for bills, but Xabi touched his arm lightly, briefly. “It’s on the house.”

The Scouser had to smile. He saw Xabi so rarely, and yet he was still the same amazing guy he met years back. He was even more good-looking than Stevie remembered, if that was possible. His hair had lightened to a reddish brown and a five-o’clock shadow lined his jaw.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Xabi asked, brow wrinkled in concern.

Stevie looked over his shoulder to check on the team – the boys were well past sobriety. They wouldn’t miss him if he stayed in the bar for a couple of minutes. “Sure,” he said. He dropped his voice a notch, “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you.”

Xabi shrugged, “I’ve always been here. It’s you and your boys who’ve left. It’s Ultra, isn’t it? You guys have started drinking in Ultra instead,” he teased.

Stevie laughed and then it turned into a frustrated groan. “God, Xabi, I’ve fucked up so bad, and I don’t know how to fix it anymore.”

Xabi was taken aback at the sudden admission. “If you can’t fix it, can’t you at least apologise for it? At least to get it off your back.”

Stevie ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t really… apologise.”

Xabi’s eyebrows rose, and he laughed unsurely. But he didn’t judge. He didn’t know Stevie enough to judge. Besides, if he judged every man, woman and minor-with-a-fake-ID that came into this bar and poured their heart out to the bartender, he would never stop.

“I hate having to apologise. I don’t even know how to,” Stevie said spitefully.

“Well, if you can’t apologise for it, you might as well just learn to live with it.”

“I was scared you’d say that.”

They both laughed, and Stevie felt a little better.

“By the way, Xabi – ” Stevie began, and then he hesitated. Should he get involved with Xabi again? He’s avoided this place for a reason. It was too dangerous to see Xabi.

But at the same time, he felt a dizzying sense of self-confidence. He’s seen Xabi many times before, and he’s always been able to keep it a secret. He still had the routine down pat. He rounded up the team after they’ve consumed three times their body weight in alcohol. He ushered them into cabs and always volunteered to take the last one. If he ended up forced into a cab with the others, he got off at an earlier stop and jogged back to the bar. Xabi always left the door open for him anyway.

Xabi was staring at him expectantly, and Stevie realised once more just how exquisite the Basque looked tonight. His body ached for him.

“Do you still work the closing shift?”

Xabi broke into a knowing smile. “Yes.”

Stevie nodded and took his beer. “I’ll see you later.”

*

Xabi was about to finish him off. He bowed his head to take Stevie’s entire length into his mouth, but the Scouser suddenly tensed and pushed him away.

“Wait,” Stevie panted, his face flushed.

Xabi sat back on his haunches. “What’s wrong?”

Stevie pushed himself up on his elbows, the vinyl fabric of the seat sticking to his sweaty skin. “Can I,” his voice dropped even though the bar was empty and they were completely alone, “Can I fuck you?”

Xabi’s eyebrows rose, and Stevie suddenly felt embarrassed for asking.

Xabi wasn’t going to say no. Of course not. But Stevie very rarely asked to go all the way. A handjob, a blowjob, maybe both, that was usually enough for him when they saw each other.

“Sure,” Xabi agreed easily. He began to undo his jeans. Stevie watched him, his heartbeat quickening in anticipation. And in fear. He hated that he yearned for this.

Their sex was rough and clumsy – there was only so much space in the booth – but they managed. Stevie was on the edge of his climax the moment he entered Xabi, and he had to concentrate to keep himself from exploding too soon. He at least had the decency to let Xabi come first. Besides, it made him feel less needy that way.

After they cleaned up, Stevie waited patiently for Xabi to close shop. The Spaniard assured him he could go ahead, but Stevie liked the company. Xabi told him mundane stories about his job as he wiped down the last of the tables. He talked about his boss and his regulars and their problems. It was nothing special, and it slowed Stevie’s racing thoughts.

“That’s it,” Xabi announced when he packed up all the supplies behind the bar.

Stevie stifled a yawn. “Good job.”

“You better go out through the main entrance so I can lock it from inside. I can just go out the employee’s entrance at the back,” Xabi said, although Stevie still remembered the drill. This was where they parted ways. Stevie hailed a cab by the busier streets out front, while Xabi walked to his flat, which was nearer to the back of the Window Bar.

“Thanks for having me,” Stevie said.

“Always a pleasure,” Xabi said, kissing the Scouser deeply. “You’re a big tipper anyway.”

They both laughed, and Stevie stole another kiss from Xabi. “I’ll be back when I can,” he murmured against Xabi’s lips, squeezing his waist.

Stevie left the bar feeling considerably lighter. He skipped down the first three steps and leapt over the last three. When he landed on the pavement, though, everything came crashing down on him.

Daniel and Pepe were waiting for him by the sidewalk.

“Say cheese,” the goalkeeper said, raising his mobile and taking a picture of a shell-shocked Stevie. Pepe frowned as he reviewed the photo. “Maybe you should try smiling next time. Let’s try again.”

Pepe held up his camera again and this time, Stevie was able to duck.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Stevie demanded, and he wished he felt as confident as he sounded.

Pepe grinned. “What the fuck do you think? It’s documentation.” He scrolled through the pictures in his mobile and held them up for Stevie to see. “I probably even have a video here somewhere.”

Stevie’s blood ran cold as his worst fears were confirmed. The photos were taken from a bit of a distance, but they were clear enough. He made a move to snatch the phone from Pepe, but the Spaniard turned him easily.

“You know, from the way you and Xabi fucked, it obviously wasn’t the first time. How in the world have you been hiding that for so long?”

Stevie gritted his teeth. “I’m not gay.”

Pepe guffawed. “Bullshit.” He pored over the pictures again, “Besides, even if you aren’t gay, you definitely are fucking Xabi Alonso.”

“I’m not gay,” Stevie repeated, louder and more forceful this time.

“Really?” Dan spoke for the first time. His voice was quiet, cold and chipped, a stark contrast to Pepe’s loud, mocking taunts. “And what about that night at Carra’s? What happened between you and Fernando?”

Stevie’s face flushed. He missed a beat, and just like that, all three of them knew he was lying. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Dan turned feral, growling deep in his throat. He took a step toward Stevie, but Pepe stopped him. “Easy,” Stevie heard the goalkeeper warn.

Dan snatched the mobile from Pepe and he opened the pictures and videos again.

“What are you going to do with those?”

Dan gave Stevie a long, scathing look, then he continued to fiddle with Pepe’s phone. Stevie craned his neck and to his horror, he saw Dan preparing to send the files.

“Dan,” Stevie did not want to grovel, but it was getting increasingly difficult to sound firm. “If you release those photos, I’m going to lose everything.”

Dan didn’t look like he cared.

“Daniel,” Stevie spoke louder to catch his attention. “I mean _everything_ – my family, my friends, football, scholarships…”

The defender cut him off. “I’m going to make you a deal you can’t refuse.”

Stevie gulped. “Anything,” he said.

“We’ll be glad to see the back of you when you leave this year. From now until then, all you’re going to do is play your football and graduate. If you fuck with me or Pepe – fuck it, if you fuck with anyone – these are going to come out.”

It sounded simple enough, but Stevie knew the greater threat was left unsaid: Daniel had a knife to his back and he would gladly drive it in if Stevie made one wrong move.

“I don’t know if I have to specify this, but just so it’s clear: if you ever come near Fernando again...” Stevie raised his hands as if in surrender. “…These photos will be the least of your problems.” The glint in Dan’s eyes was dangerous.

“And I’m just supposed to trust you when you say you’ll honour these conditions.”

Stevie forgot how quickly Dan could lose his temper.

“Oh, I’m sorry, if those terms are too unfair for you, I could just publish these photos now and be done with it. It’s not like there’s anything you can do,” the Dane lashed out.

“No, wait!” Stevie retracted just as quickly.

Dan hit the ‘send’ button on Pepe’s mobile, and Stevie’s heart leapt to his throat. He couldn’t breathe even as he desperately tried to gulp down air.

The screen flashed –

**_15 files successfully sent to Daniel Agger._ **

“What…?” Stevie stammered, his mind couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

Dan didn’t look particularly pleased with himself, but he showed the two mobiles to Stevie. All the files were transferred to his phone. He started deleting the originals from Pepe’s.

“Now, only I have a copy of the photos and videos,” Dan said.

“I think I preferred it when Pepe held the evidence.”

“I think I’d prefer it if _everyone_ held the evidence, like Carra or Rafa or your father or that girl with big tits you’ve been ‘dating,’” Dan snapped back.

That shut Stevie right up. Dan rolled his hands into tight fists. The Scouser was one insufferable bastard. He was already beginning to regret giving him any leeway.

“Just do what I told you,” Dan said brusquely, pocketing his phone.

“And you’ll do what you promised, right?” Stevie asked. There was no sarcasm in his voice this time. It was a genuine, if not pleading, question. “Can’t I have some sort of guarantee?”

Dan and Pepe had to laugh.

“Stevie, you weren’t particularly generous when you were giving your ultimatum about the bet.”

“Actually, you went ahead and broke the agreement because you ended up telling Fernando about the bet anyway,” Pepe added.

Dan nodded. “So, don’t push your luck.”

*

After the furor the last couple of weeks, Fernando welcomed the sense of calm that had settled over the team recently. It was an uneasy calm – Stevie was unusually withdrawn, Daniel was still brooding, everyone else kept to themselves to be safe – but Fernando would take it.

In a way, Fernando needed the break too. His confrontation with Daniel left him raw and exhausted. But now that the defender let him be, it was like Fernando could finally let down his defences. He let himself think back on Daniel’s apologies, repeat them several times in his head until he could understand them. In the end, he even felt like he could begin to accept them.

That morning, he bumped into Daniel as they both rushed to make it to their History class in time. Daniel instantly stepped back to let Fernando pass first, averting his gaze and apologising quietly. He even held the door open for him. Fernando nodded at him in thanks. Daniel was startled at the attention, but he nodded back nevertheless.

People always thought apologising was the most difficult thing to do. But, accepting apologies was just as difficult.

“Fernando, your friend is here,” his mother knocked on his bedroom door.

Fernando closed his textbook and followed his mother downstairs. He had invited Lucas and Emiliano over, two of the younger boys in the team. He figured it was time to start making new friends.

But, when he entered the living room, he saw he had a different visitor.

“Hi,” Daniel smiled sheepishly. His hair was combed neatly, Fernando noted. He had always told Daniel that his mother hated his unruly hairstyle.

“Yes?” Fernando asked. He didn’t trust himself to say anything else.

Daniel held out a CD.

“What is this?”

“Proof,” Dan said. “Photos and videos of Stevie… with another guy.”

Fernando gasped. “You outed him?!” He almost yelled out.

Dan shrank back but inside, he was relieved. Fernando’s outburst just confirmed that he made the right decision.

“I wanted to,” he said. “But don’t worry, Stevie won’t be bothering you anymore.”

Dan took Fernando’s hand and he pressed the CD to his palm. “These are the only copies, and I want you to keep them.”

Fernando was still reeling. “Wait, why me?”

“Stevie said he would stay away from you. But I won’t always be there to see if he’s kept that promise. It’s better if you hold on to the files.” Fernando glanced down. Daniel’s hands lingered on his.

“Besides, you know I don’t have the willpower to keep those photos secret for long,” Dan added with a small, humourless chuckle.

Fernando shook his head, “…I don’t understand. Why did you let Stevie go?”

Dan sighed deeply. He still asked himself the same question. “Because you’d only hate me more?”

“I don’t hate you,” Fernando murmured.

“Besides, I’ve been fighting Stevie for years, and it’s gotten me nowhere. Actually, it’s only gotten other people hurt in the process.”

Fernando nodded. It was a lot to take in, but he was starting to understand. “Okay. I’ll keep it,” he said. “Are you sure this is the only copy?”

Dan was quick to break into a rakish grin. “When are you going to start trusting me again?” He teased smoothly.

Fernando rolled his eyes, but he cracked a smile. Daniel was still Daniel, at the end of the day. In a way, it comforted him.

Not long after, the doorbell rang again. Fernando could hear Lucas and Emiliano chattering outside.

“I’m sorry, I have other guests.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll go ahead,” Dan shrugged – he was shy again all of a sudden. “Thanks for seeing me,” he said quietly.

“Of course.”

They walked to the door, a yawning distance between them.

“And thank you. For all of this,” Fernando said, gesturing vaguely with the CD. “You didn’t have to.”

Daniel held his arms wide open, as if to give up anything else he hadn’t already. “Anything for you.”

They shared small, sad smiles, then they parted ways.


	9. Epilogue

In a way, it was like Daniel was being dared all over again. He had to get to know Fernando again, inch his way closer to him again, earn his trust again. And he had to take this slowly and seriously – his old tricks wouldn’t work this time.

And in a way, it was harder than the bet Pepe posed last year. There were no rules. There were no deadlines. There wasn’t even an assurance that there would be a reward in the end.

But, Daniel was stubborn. And while his dogged determination to win got him into trouble more often than not, it also got him out of the tightest spots when absolutely necessary.

He was sure Fernando noticed – the seats Dan saved for him on the team bus, the water bottles Dan offered immediately after he finished his laps, the attentive pats on the back Dan always gave during matches. Dan even arranged it so that he was always there to drive Fernando home after late games and team parties.

But the Spaniard always just took everything with a polite smile, amused but never reciprocating.

“It’s not working,” Daniel complained to Pepe during one training session.

“Of course it’s working. You can both manage to be within a yard of each other now, right?”

“Wow, that’s great,” Dan said sarcastically. “I’m not working my ass of so Fernando and I can be just friends, Pepe. Fuck that.”

“You don’t say,” Pepe retorted with as much sarcasm. “That crazed look in your eyes doesn’t give you away.”

Dan slumped down on the grass and stretched his legs in front of him, flexing his tired muscles. His eyes instinctively searched for Fernando in the five-a-side being played at the other end of the pitch.

“Will you stop that?” Pepe scolded and hit Daniel on the head, sending the younger boy sprawling on the ground. “You look like a fucking creep.”

“I’m just watching him! It’s all I can really _do_.”

“Just ask him out, for crying out loud.”

“I can’t ask him out! He’s going to say no!”

“Then you won’t be any worse off than where you are now.”

Daniel sighed, frowning. He didn’t know why he was still turning to Pepe for advice. Clearly, the two of them weren’t the best ingredients for a foolproof plan. But, the goalkeeper had a point.

As training wound down, Daniel positioned himself by the sidelines of the five-a-side. The coach blew the whistle to end the game, and the players head for the cooler to get some refreshments. Fernando was still some way off, but he easily spotted Daniel waiting for him. Their gazes locked, and Fernando raised an eyebrow in question. Dan smiled innocently.

“Yes?” Fernando asked, a confused smile playing beautifully on his lips.

Dan held out a bottle of Lucozade for him. “Good goal.”

“Thanks,” Fernando said as he accepted the drink. He shuffled awkwardly, uncertain if Daniel was going to say anything else or if he should walk away already.

“Hey,” Daniel began, and Fernando fidgeted even more. The defender took a deep breath, and the words swept out of him in one big whoosh. “Do you have any plans today? Do you want to go catch a movie or grab a bite with me?” 

Fernando’s eyebrows rose so high, genuinely surprised at Daniel’s invitation. Sure, he was getting to be on good terms with the defender, but he didn’t think he would try to ask him out again.

Fernando pursed his lips, and Daniel steeled himself. That wasn’t a good sign.

“Daniel,” Fernando called him by his full name. That wasn’t a good sign either. And he spoke in that slow, careful tone that always meant he was about to say something the other boy wouldn’t like. They edged away from the group.

“We’ve talked about this before,” Fernando said. “I’m really happy we’re friends now, but we said we wouldn’t try again anymore. We had an agreement.”

Daniel held up a finger, “An agreement I didn’t agree to. So, it’s not an agreement.”

“Are you always this articulate?” Fernando teased.

“What can I say? You make me speechless,” Dan managed to quip despite the disappointment welling in his chest.

Fernando shook his head. “I’m sorry, Daniel. The answer is still no.”

For what it was worth, his rejection was good-natured. It still made Daniel feel like shit though. He ambled away, eyes downcast and shoulders hunched. Then an idea hit him. He immediately spun on his heel to face Fernando once more.

“I can ask you out again, right? Now that we’ve agreed that our previous agreement wasn’t mutual.”

The Spaniard laughed. At least Daniel had that – seeing Fernando relaxed and easy around him was as much as a success.

“You probably shouldn’t, but I guess I can’t really stop you, right?”

Dan broke into a triumphant grin. “No, you can’t.”

*

Fernando wasn’t surprised to see Daniel leaning on his locker after dismissal. He was there the other day too, and the day before that. This, despite Daniel’s locker being on the other end of the long corridor, much closer to the school doors.

Fernando was already snickering by the time he reached his locker. Daniel was grinning too. This was becoming a game of cat and mouse.

“Can I help you?” Fernando asked playfully.

Daniel pushed off the bank of lockers. “Actually, yes, you can. If you grace me with your presence for dinner tonight.”

Fernando blushed, and he hated himself for reacting so easily. There were days when it was too easy to turn down Daniel’s advances. And then there were days like these. Fernando opened his mouth but words failed him. Daniel lit up, sensing a hint of success.

The Spaniard distracted himself by working on the combination of his lock. The numbers jumbled in front of him, and he had to struggle with his lock a couple of times before it sprung open.

He eventually managed to find his composure as he shoved his books in his cramped locker. He turned to Daniel and shook his head, “Maybe next time.”

Daniel pushed the locker door closed so he could get a better look at Fernando’s face. “Now you’re just being cruel.”

“You could always just stop.”

“I don’t back down from a challenge.”

“Then I guess we’ll just see who can last longer.”

Daniel snickered. “Fernando, I learned a long time ago how to wait for you – that’s why I won the bet. I waited for you before, and I can wait for you again.”

Fernando felt a shiver go up his spine. “Okay. Then try again tomorrow,” he answered back, trying to sound snappy, but his retort ended up weak. 

Daniel gave him one last smug grin before he turned around and left. He was easily swallowed by the stream of students hurrying out of school.

Fernando hit his head on his locker. Daniel was getting cockier and cockier, and he only had himself to blame. He scolded himself – he was giving in, bit by bit. But then again, was that so bad?

*

“Am I ever going to be able to use my locker in peace?” Fernando asked when he arrived at school the next morning.

“Mmm,” Dan pretended to think about it, “No.”

Not that Fernando was expecting any other answer. Daniel regularly dropped by his locker, in the morning, during lunch, after dismissal. Maybe he should be irritated at the constant presence, but Fernando enjoyed Daniel’s company, whether he liked to admit it or not.

Daniel always began the day by asking him out, but once he turned it down, they always got to talking about other things – their homework for the week and the tactics Rafa made them memorize, the latest songs Daniel found and the books Fernando insisted he read.

And Daniel didn’t mind making the long walk to Fernando’s locker even though it was out of the way most of the time. It was the closest he could get to being alone with Fernando, since the Spaniard was always turning down his invitations. Today, by the way, was no different.

“You know, we could go to Starbucks tonight and study for the Algebra midterms together. Misery loves company, right?” Daniel said.

Fernando smiled ruefully. “I think I’ll just study at home tonight.” He continued, trying to move on from the issue as quickly as possible, “You should too. Studying with someone else and in a public place can be distracting.”

And for someone who’s been turned down so many times by the same boy, it was still hard for Daniel to accept the rejection each day. Fernando noticed.

Dan pursed his lips tightly, glanced up at the ceiling and heaved a deep sigh, like he always did. Then, when he looked at Fernando again, he was fine. “Okay, then. I’ll catch you later.”

*

“Hey, Fernando!” Daniel walked alongside Fernando to their next class.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“The Yankees have a game tonight against the Mets, do you want to watch?”

Fernando nearly dropped the books he carried in his arms. “ _Baseball?_ ”

Daniel tried to keep a straight face, but he cracked up in a matter of seconds.

“You’re asking me out to catch a baseball game?!”

“Okay, okay, I was just kidding,” Dan said in between peals of laughter. “I just wanted to check if you were still paying attention whenever I asked you out, instead of just saying no all the time.”

*

Fernando was still a couple of yards away, but he already noticed the lack of a Daniel Agger at his locker that morning. His forehead immediately furrowed in confusion, and he looked around the corridor to look for the defender. There was no sign of him.

He hurriedly opened his locker and looked for a note, in case Daniel had left him something, but there was nothing.

Fernando looked around again, turning this way and that. It was so strange for Daniel to suddenly decide not to show up.

_Maybe he just woke up late._

Daniel was never a morning person anyway, and it always surprised Fernando that he could wake up early enough to drop by his locker before classes.

Fernando rolled his shoulders to shake off the tension. He took out his books and filed his papers, the way he normally would on any school day. Daniel would probably be back later.

Three hours into the day, though, and he still hadn’t seen Daniel. They had no classes together in the morning, and they usually saw each other when Fernando dropped by his locker to get his readings for study hall. Again, Daniel wasn’t there.

 _Maybe this is a test_ , Fernando thought to himself, shuffling his papers in his file case distractedly. _Just like that time he asked me out to watch that fucking Yankees game._

Daniel wasn’t there during lunch break either, although he usually hung out with his own friends. And Fernando’s pride couldn’t handle walking up to the Danish table to ask Nick where Dan was.

_Maybe he’s out sick. But he should have texted. But why would he text? It’s not like he’s required to keep up with my class schedule._

_Maybe he’s tired of me saying no. Or, maybe he’s just tired of me, period._

Fernando shook his head as if he could physically dislodge the thoughts troubling him.

By the time dismissal came around, Fernando was in a downright rotten mood. He threw his locker door open and it swung back on its hinges and hit him sharply on the shoulder. “Fuck!” He cursed, rubbing the sore spot.

With his uninjured arm, he tried to dig out his books from his bag, but they were more than he could manage, so couple of them fell to the floor.

“Great,” he muttered to himself. He dropped on one knee to collect his things, flicking his long hair away from his eyes in irritation.

He heard footsteps approaching, and from his position, he just caught a peek of a pair of battered boots.

“Are you okay?”

Fernando looked up, his hair splayed messily across his forehead. Daniel was watching him tentatively.

“You’re late,” Fernando wanted to say. Or, “Where have you been?” He even wanted to snap, “This is your fault!”

Instead, Fernando grunted, “I’m fine,” he said, gathering his books.

Daniel crouched down next to him, picking up a couple of loose sheets of paper that had slid away. “You don’t look fine.”

“I’m just having a bad day,” Fernando huffed.

“You tell me. I was stuck in the library until seventh period finishing a term paper that was due for my last class,” Daniel chuckled tiredly.

Fernando turned to Daniel so quickly, he almost dropped his books again. “Oh,” he said, relief washing over him like a wave. And then he was just grinning uncontrollably, and he suddenly felt ten times better. “That’s too bad,” he said, “Did you get to finish it?”

Daniel shrugged. “It’s done. Whether it was brilliant is a different question entirely.” He grabbed the last of Fernando’s things and they stood up. He turned over the Spaniard’s belongings.

Fernando smiled shyly as he took his things. Underneath the pile of books, he felt Daniel graze his fingers against the back of his hand. 

“Did you miss me while I was gone?” Dan teased.

Fernando burned a bright red, not just at the question, but at the memory of how stressed he was the entire day. “No, not really,” he babbled. And there he was, turning down Daniel again. It was getting to be a defence mechanism.

Dan shrugged. “Ah well. I’ll turn in early today. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, giving Fernando a salute.

Fernando watched him leave, feeling so much lighter than when the day began. It wasn’t until he was heading to his car that he realised Daniel didn’t ask him out today – for the first time in a long time.

 _He was just tired. He said so himself_ , Fernando thought. The doubts began nagging on his mind again.

*

Dan was still bleary-eyed and half-awake when he got to school the next day. He slept a solid 10 hours, but he was still so exhausted from cramming the day before. When he reached his locker, he dumped his backpack on the floor and rooted around for his battered planner. Study for Algebra quiz, check. Return books to the library, check. Read Chapter 10 of The Solitaire Mystery… okay, he forgot that, but maybe he could look it up on Wikipedia over lunch.

“Fuck fuck fuckity fuck,” Daniel muttered under his breath as he dug out the books he didn’t need for the morning. “This day is already looking up.”

He straightened up and suddenly, he was face to face with Fernando, who was leaning on his locker.

“Jesus Christ!” He yelped hoarsely, clutching at his chest. “God, don’t scare me like that!”

Fernando smirked. “I’ve been standing here the entire time.”

Dan ran his palm over his face. “Sorry, I was just preoccupied.”

Fernando just nodded in understanding. He looked freshly-scrubbed and glowing at 8 in the morning. Dan reached up to comb his hair with his fingers.

“So, what brings you here?” he coughed. “I was gonna drop by your locker after this.”

Fernando shrugged with one shoulder. “No need. I figured it was time to return the favour.”

Daniel stopped fidgeting with his books, and he looked at the Spaniard closely. There was something different about him.

Fernando casually placed his hand on Daniel’s arm. “You look stressed. Have you even eaten breakfast yet?”

“I drank coffee?”

Fernando shook his head. “Come on, put your books in your locker. We have enough time to run down to the café and get some sandwiches.”

“Now? The two of us?”

“Yeah.”

Daniel was not following. Fernando was smiling widely.

“Are you…? Is this counted as a…?”

The tips of Fernando’s ears were pink. “Are you going to make me regret asking you out?”

Daniel’s jaw dropped as the realisation hit him fully. Then he grinned like an idiot. And then he remembered that Fernando was still standing there, amused. He cleared his throat and shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah, yeah, sure, I can do breakfast with you.”

“Finally,” Fernando laughed, rolling his eyes.

Daniel laughed too. “Finally? I should be the one saying that!”

This day was looking up after all.


End file.
